Scene From A Silent Film

Recently, I was thrilled to receive an honorable mention in this international sonnet contest. The contest had two categories: one for traditional sonnets, such as Shakespearian, and one for modern sonnets, which allowed the author room to craft a poem with some traditional sonnet structure yet tempered to include their own design. I read the following introduction to my modern sonnet submission. 

 This piece was originally a 100-word story which I then crafted into a poem. It was inspired by a time I lived in Ecuador, where it’s common to feel small earthquakes and tremors rattle the windows for a few seconds. A handful of times I was awoken in the middle of the night and would go look outside to see people walking out of their homes into the streets and checking that things were okay. From there I thought of other reasons, perhaps more everyday ones, why people would be up in the middle of the night, and might look outside to catch this scene. 

Scene From A Silent Film
 
Clumsily she rises from sleep’s abyss
2:00 a.m. feeding 
Rocking baby near apartment window
Glance into the street
Man stands with hands in pockets, a noir look
Girl, dark and lovely
Slippered feet, dancer’s tread, kisses him deep
He bows, they laugh, then
Separate ways they go, into the night
Miniature play 
She puts the baby to sleep, wakes husband
Needful hand on hip
He doesn’t understand, but doesn’t have to ask

It is enough, as in life is often the case.

Scene From A Silent Film from Sonnet Alyse on Vimeo.