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Notes About The Poem

CAUDATE SONNET: abbaabba cdcdcd d (the coda) ee d (the coda) ff d (the coda). I have elected to honour the rhyme scheme of the Tail-rhyme where the tails rhyme.

POET’S NOTES
*Phoebe was associated with the Moon in mythology. The moon is rising signalling the end of the day.
†Hebe is the Goddess of youth and the patron of the brides.
‡Tithonus was a mortal Trojan prince. Eos, the Goddess of the Dawn, fell in love with him and requested Zeus to make him immortal. Because she did not request eternal youth explicitly, Tithonus withered in old age. Eos transformed Tithonos into a cicada.
**Orpheus was a legendary musician and poet who could charm all living things. The most well-known myth regarding Orpheus concerns his descent into the underworld to retrieve the soul of his late wife Eurydice. Hades was charmed by Orpheus's music and allowed Eurydice to travel back up to Earth with the condition that Orpheus could not look back to Eurydice to confirm that she was behind him. Orpheus ultimately looked behind him after he grew concerned that Hades had misled him only to find that Eurydice was behind him, but having broken the condition, Eurydice was lost to him a second time.
††Selene, the personification of the moon who is spying on the couple.

By the Silvery Light of a Moon

The Southern Cross’ trajectory across
the night sky marks the hours that come to pass.
Her prone figure no longer an hourglass;
by the silvery light of Phoebe’s* gloss.
I cling to the edge of the bed, toss
and turn—my reminiscing turns to farce.
Hebe† has long since fled and passion is sparse.
As inscriptions on wedding rings embossed:
‘May our love last forever and a day.’
Eos, turn me into a cicada black!‡
Unlike lovesick Orpheus,** I’m not fey
and I would definitely not turn back
for another round of intimate play.
As lover, she had given me the sack!
I endure constant flak 
from my mates down at the pub over pint
that I’m in a terrific moral bind;
inspiration is slack.
If only we could turn back aging clock:
Oh, Selene,†† you might espy lovers who flock
to her bed and lose track.

mythologyromancesonnet

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