Sonnet

We phrase our careful arguments
Incontrovertibly,
Taking care to make some sense
From metaphor and simile,

The way a simple sonnet form
Creates from abstract poetry
An inevitable sort of norm,
A literary Q.E.D.,

Stringing up the facts of life
Like so many missing threads,
Humming as it twists the knife
And hangs the knot above our heads,

Until, with one swift parting hack,
It takes it all completely back.

Tippet Alley
August 28th, 1998