The leader (an Arabian sonnet)- A Poem by Brigitte Poirson

We never found a way under his sway.

The elephant trampled us in the fray.

At Lion’s carnal feast we did fall a prey.

The sun blinds us, but we still feel no ray.

For his sake, burning, we flared in his lie.

And his forceful flood left us high and dry.

His shady plot though stared us in our aye.

His sky made us vie to die, not to fly.

He was only bound by our own promise

To follow him and grow in common bliss!

His sweet song was but insane serpent’s bliss!

Over our heads past and future gather.

In the desert we share manna, yonder,

Where angels and beasts will live together.

  The Arabian sonnet is composed of two quatrains and two tercets. The rhyming pattern is:

a,a,a,a

b,b,b,b

c,c,c

d,d,d

  They are metered at 10 syllables per line.

  The lines are composed of iambic pentameters ( this is one thing I haven’t strictly followed the rhythm, like many others,  as it tends to bridle inspiration a bit too much! )

  The volta, i.e. a turn, a climax in the sonnet, is on line 9

(in the Divided Lines anthology)