Augustinian Prayer Sonnet
by Bill Yarrow
Studious, yes, but hardly smart,
her breasts were larger than her heart
He kissed her tits and thought of art—
Memling, Cressida, Jean-Paul Sartre,
of marriages which fall apart
when whores are put before Descartes,
of guilt which stains but does not smart,
of sad bullseyes that long for darts,
and so he took her bra apart
and took her tits into his heart,
into his mouth, into his art,
the taste less sweet than it was tart,
an act more foolish than was smart
which Christ had warned him from the start
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Author's Note
A version of this poem was published in PANK 4.
"Augustinian Prayer Sonnet" appears in THE VIG OF LOVE (Glass Lyre Press, 2016).
Other stories by Bill Yarrow
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Should go straight into freshman English anthologies.
"...before Descartes,"
;-)
Couldn't squeeze in the word fart? Somehow?
"Per omnia saecula saeculorum, aaaAAAAa-men."
I think you left this out.
Thanks Con, Matt, Jerry, and James!
Nice one, Bill.
I liked the playful never-ending rhyme.
s/b Jean-Paul, not "John-Paul" Sartre. He's the feller that said hell is other folks.
Although I see that Google lists both versions of the name. Two men? Maybe I should go back to school.
I would go with Jean-Paul, but that's me. This is a great poem.
Closing the piece without punctuation is the right move. You might consider removing the period in line 2.
Marvelous flow to the language, Bill. Tight. Well written.
or wal-mart--
no seriously, this is way fun, and the descartes play alons worth the price of admission
*
"sad bullseyes" - a personal favorite of mine.
there's a jauntiness which derives from the repeating rhyme and iambic tetratmeter in this, more playful/tuneful than a sonnet's traditional pentameter, and interesting that it doesn't really get rolling until the 2nd line…that opening word, Studious, kind of jamming (jambing?)the start, reinforcing perhaps the supplicant's conflict between a worshipful and lustful state of mind
"when whores are put before Descartes"
Inspired…truly inspired!
Lots of fun. Sorta. Oh, that ending! You really know how to hurt a guy, don't you, Bill!
Great stuff, the one note cleverly varied ryhme, deadly puns of whoreses and carts, and the wonderful measure, a tours de farce if ever there was.
Ha ha ha! You had me with the title. Nicely done and very funny. Augustine, if in an honest mood (considering his past), would enjoy.
I laughed so hard out came a fart
so fun, Bill! this cracked me up. I love the opening line. Make that ten *s!
Ha!