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Kitchen Remodeling
When most people think of sonnets they think of Shakespeare
("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?") or maybe Elizabeth Barrett
Browning's sonnet sequence Sonnets from the Portuguese, though poets have been writing
sonnets for thousands of years. To refresh your memory: Sonnets are 14 lines, usually
rhymed and metered and focused on a single idea or problem and coming to a conclusion at
the end. On the seacoast, and at the poetry hoots, we are occasionally graced with
brilliant, local masters of the modern sonnet. Exeter poet James Rioux has a new sonnet
sequence out (Fistfuls of the Invisible), and many modern sonnets can be enjoyed in the
book Too Much Explanation Can Ruin A Man by upcoming featured Hoot reader, Robert
Crawford. Crawford pleased the crowd at the February poetry hoot with this
sonnet:
Kitchen Remodeling
I know I should be listening to your
description of the changes that you've made,
since you implied that following this tour
I'd take the test to be your kitchen aide.
I should note where you've moved the lobster pot,
but I'm distracted by your lips, your smile,
the way your hips rest up against - well, not
your hips exactly - the edge of cool white tile.
I know you're telling me about the brand
new island and the cabinet space inside,
but it's a blur. I hope you'll understand,
forgive the fact, that I've grown glassy-eyed,
and lost, imagining what I could do
On this expanse of countertop with you.- Robert W. Crawford
I have always found sonnets difficult, actually impossible, to write and so I am amazed at the subtleties of the skill here. The rhyme scheme is perfect (abab, cdcd, etc.), each line has ten syllables and we are led through one idea to the delicious conclusion. Within the strict rules of the form however, the language and the flow are completely natural; the rhyme scheme and the meter don't draw attention to themselves at all, only ably carry us through the thought to the final, passionate image. You can hear more of Robert Crawford's sonnets and other formal verse when he is a featured reader at the April 5th poetry hoot at Café Espresso.
- Lesley Kimball
"Kitchen Remodeling" copyright 2006 by Robert W. Crawford. Robert Crawford lives and works in Chester, NH as an Assistant Professor of poetry at Chester College of New England. A long time member of the Powow Poets in Newburyport, MA, his poems have appeared in The Formalist, The Dark Horse, Iambs & Trochees, The Lyric, and other publications. His first book of poetry, Too Much Explanation Can Ruin a Man, was published by David Robert Books in 2005.
Please note: Poems submitted to this column should not exceed nineteen lines.
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