(sonnet #\'s CXCIX, CC, CCI)
# I
Life\'s boring. Yet the day\'s a lovely one:
An arid azure heaven\'s overhead,
So richly blue with bright white pillows spread
Round ev\'rywhere, behind which cheerful sun
Plays, sometimes hiding, shadows quite undone
\'Til golden splashes make them dance instead;
Leaf silhouettes on grass romance have bred
Where verdant green surrounds and dreams are spun.
Cicadas bray and crickets chirp away
Mid-afternoon; birds twitter, flit, sing sweet
Loved melodies, while summer wends her way
Out, \"more heat yet\" they say. Time\'s slow yet fleet,
Dream\'s hopes e\'er beaten who\'d mundane dismay.
Naught\'s left; all\'s best now, their defeat complete.
# II
Naught\'s left. All\'s best right now; if vain conceit
Would vaunt itself and raise my head to vie
For glory, dreaming of another try
At such things, laurel\'s ray of hope; deceit
To dry dim eyes again for moments sweet;
Dreams spreading eagles wings to rise and fly
Above mundane, escape to realms that lie
Half-close though far, I\'ve tasted ere defeat.
Yes, laboured diligent and strived, did stir
All energies for varied causes, yea.
In retrospect, for little gain: allure
Did fade, success eluded each assay;
What have I left? Today is sweet, Time\'s blur
Reminds all\'s vain except that final day.
# III
Time\'s blur reminds us that all\'s vain,
As God\'s Word clearly says. Is unbelief
The root of all these dreams? As we relief
And succour find in things that ever wane,
Or never prove their substance though they reign
Supreme in troubled thoughts to rescue brief,
In hopes of glory now, t\'assuage our grief
In lowly plights, while we them entertain?
I shrink t\'admit \'tis so, yet it is true
That \'cepting honour heavenly, all\'s naught,
Event\'lly. Hence what gain but dreams to rue
For this vain sphere? Thus life here bores me, taught
Such things are lies. And now\'s enough, best: blue
Skies, sweet day. What\'s left? To be to Him brought.
15Aug11