Sonnet #5, Enraptured - Original Poem

This is the fifth sonnet I've constructed and unlike the others, it deals with an actual Shakespearean theme: love. Yes love, whose food is music and whose wine is poetry. What poet doesn't write on love at some point, even if it's the love they feel for nature, their pet or a Starbucks Venti Mocha Frappachino. I'll admit I'd like to read that last poem.

But love in the 21st Century is a bit different. We have the internet to introduce us to a wide range of suitors outside our village and we have communication methods via computer that allow us to interact through text, voice and video. We have cell phone technology that allows us to take these things wherever we go. Our lovers don't wholly travel with us, but their voices linger in our ears as well as our thoughts if we must be parted from them.

My husband is a military veteran and we've spent some significant time apart, both while we were dating and while we've been married. When all else fails, that voice on the other end of the line can be the most seductive and alluring thing in the world. In short, it can be enrapturing.

my room is dark but for a single ardent flame
the night outside is cold & shadow-filled
but perceiption in the air reflects the aim
to prove to you my love, my soul fulfilled

the night offers a haven for the heartache
and the wretchedness and toil of the day
but I do not give of myself for just my own sake
it is the draw of you that makes me stay

i scorn sleep well into darkest night
and hope that you will spend that time with me
your essence puts the thoughts of rest to flight
this growth of love is something meant to be

never have i found myself so enraptured
your voice is the sweetest i have ever heard

This poem was written on October 20, 2006. It has never been published. This is a Shakespearean sonnet which follows a set line and rhyme scheme of ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.

In this sonnet I chose not to use capitalization and punctuation in it's normal way as an homage to my favorite poet E.E. Cummings. Although his stylized use of punctuation and capitalization was done by definite intent for aesthetic purposes, my use is intended to soften and contemporize the rigid, dated structure of the Shakespearean sonnet.

Thanks for reading. Comments and critiques are welcome!