Cut Out My Shadow; Cut Out My Shadow Revisited — Two sonnets paired
“Cut out my shadow.”
~ Lorca, “Song of the Barren Orange Tree” (“Canción del Naranjo seco”)
Some readers want each sonnet to omit
The truth. They want a shadowless report
On life. They do not see that we commit
A crime, one tantamount to worst abort
Command for launching deepest probes of space
To verify disturbing facts we guess
Around us and inside us. Only grace
And beauty are allowed. The answer “Yes!”
Is what these ones require. No roses with
Their thorns are right. A bush not evergreen
Is banished. Pollyannas hold this myth
That poetry is always sweet, not mean.
The greatest poet ever disagrees.
In Hamlet he weaves slaughter, sin and sleaze.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
~Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5)
Cut Out My Shadow Revisited
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
~ Philippians 4:8
Cut out my shadow so that I can paste
It in again, again. It needs to be
Set on . . . repeat, repeat. If I am chaste
As whitest ice, as far as eye can see,
We need a better telescope. James Webb
Ain’t good enough. Saint Paul suggests a list
Of what we should consider. Flow, not ebb,
It seems is fine. Our lives do not consist
Of mild vanilla only. Cyanide
Exists. A convent tries to stop the blight.
A nun prepares to be the Savior’s bride.
Yet even nuns are dressed in black and white.
We’re all required to take in every view.
Yes, we are told to think about what’s true.
~ Phillip Whidden
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