Andrew Fairchild Poet Sonnet

Sonnet 31 'How High the Bar That Makes a Poet Real'

How high the bar that makes a poet Real!
(He walks in mists, and shadows of himself)
To be a poet, is to burn with steel
Set short time in the forge, the lesser self!
He brands his heart with fiery words, set down
And burns his mind with thinking, ‘til it glows,
He hopes, of sonnets, his will be the Crown,
And hopes that all the brilliance of light, shows!
But, oftener, he writes a humble piece,
A few words cramped into a simple form,
But somehow, in his feelings, a release!
Yes, humble-bumble often is the norm.
And that high bar, he reaches seldom, and
Leaves barefoot footprints in the fruity sand.

2/20/2019

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Sunlite Wanter March 23, 2019 at 10:53 AM This poem is very comforting to me. Maybe I am a "real" poet after all. A fav! Andrew Fairchild March 23, 2019 at 12:04 PM I am so glad you found comfort in this. I am sure you are a Real Poet! Thanks for fave-ing it!

Robert Lindley March 18, 2019 at 3:17 PM Your sonnets inspire me my friend. They have the beauty and depth that sonnets are supposed to have and are woven from a true poet's heart! A FAV... Andrew Fairchild March 23, 2019 at 12:03 PM I am honored, sir. Thank you for your very kind words!

M. L. Kiser February 24, 2019 at 1:53 PM Wonderful, had to "fav". Andrew Fairchild February 24, 2019 at 3:22 PM Thank you very much!

Anna Hopper February 24, 2019 at 10:23 AM Wow! Truth! It is so nice to complete a piece and share... even though, only every once in a while you stumble upon something brilliant! Love this! Andrew Fairchild February 24, 2019 at 12:59 PM Thank you! Truth is IT! The Sufis have 3 questions they ask themselves before they speak: is it True? Is it necessary? Is it kind?

Janice Canerdy February 24, 2019 at 6:59 AM Good sonnet, Andrew! I can certainly relate to this one! Janice Andrew Fairchild February 24, 2019 at 7:11 AM Thank you! I appreciate it!

Swetha Vangaveti February 22, 2019 at 4:57 AM When I turned low this week, I gotta read this. I can relate very well to it. To reach the bar I set to myself, I walk and the walk seems to be on a never ending path :/ Andrew Fairchild February 24, 2019 at 1:32 AM The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step! Sure seems like that bar is a thousand miles high, sometimes! I am so glad this is a point of reassurance. I appreciate YOUR reassurance!

Constance La France February 21, 2019 at 9:52 PM Andrew, this is wonderful and when the poet (us)reaches the high bar, we know it and it is a beautiful thing ~ Andrew Fairchild February 21, 2019 at 11:53 PM Thank you! I only get there about one time out of twenty, and of those twenty, two are flops, that I later delete, but that one time is as sweet as a smile! It's God's little present!

Andrea Dietrich February 21, 2019 at 8:18 PM This is so true, Andrew. Few poets can do a lot of masterpieces. It takes a lot of humble pie sort of poems to reach the bar one has set for oneself. I can tell it in myself. I am lucky if one in ten of mine is an outstanding poem. Love to read your work! I am so behind this week. I may finish with this last comment to you and catch up with other folks tomorrow! bye now. have a wonderful night. Andrew Fairchild February 21, 2019 at 8:38 PM Thank you, that is so kind! One in twenty of mine is good, the rest... work, and one or two, I have to withdraw after I decide I can't fix them. Have a peaceful night, too!

CayCay Godwin February 21, 2019 at 7:30 AM What poet cannot relate to this? I can, I do and I think it's a splendid and playful look at the issue as stirred with depth. I shall remember to linger with this in my mind for awhile - really like it. All the best ... CayCay Andrew Fairchild February 21, 2019 at 8:41 PM Thank you! I really appreciate that you can relate to it! Says I did my job better'n I thought I did. Still a ways to the bar, though! ;-)

P.S. Awtry February 20, 2019 at 8:56 PM so much beauty in the "humble-bumble" for our own souls and the reader ... because we "humble-bumble" humans need to see the "humble-bumble" of even ones who can write the Crown. (so, can you tell what my favorite word was in this one!) Andrew Fairchild February 21, 2019 at 1:26 AM Yes, Francis Bacon (Shakespeare) never left behind the sonnets that didn't quite work, so we will never read them... but how beautifully he wrote the humble-bumble. THANK YOU for your reassurance. I needed that, today! Someday, I will write the Crown, and God will make it worthy, but it will be His Crown, not mine!