Love and beauty sweeten mortal being
And spice and ornament the lives of gods;
Without me, queen of both, brightly beaming
All chances at happiness face long odds
You complain that I stray from your embrace
But soot and fire compromise my charms;
Your forge can make an armored carapace
But foul and stinking are your sweaty arms
Consider how we divide means from ends:
‘Tis true, my way of making is not fair
But my will strongest iron quickly bends
My swords cause fearsome monsters to despair
Love and beauty both exhibit frailty
What I create has more utility
About the Creator
D. J. Reddall
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
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FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
By Vocal Curation Team6 days ago in Resources
Comments (3)
Nicely done!
I always thought they were an odd pairing. Great inverse.
Whoaaaa, this worked so well both ways!! To me, even a sonnet is so difficult to write but to went a step further and made it make sense in reverse as well! You're freaking brilliant!