Sonnet 56 / The Corneal Gates (Patricia Carragon)

Sonnet 56
Sweet love renew thy force, be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allayed,
Tomorrow sharpened in his former might.
So love be thou, although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes, even till they wink with fulness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love, with a perpetual dulness:
Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new,
Come daily to the banks, that when they see:
Return of love, more blest may be the view.
Or call it winter, which being full of care,
Makes summer's welcome, thrice more wished, more rare.

The Corneal Gates
You keep my image
Behind corneal gates.
I look closer,
See an hourglass
Where sand becomes
An endless beach –
Where a shell lies
Like a castaway.

I pick it up,
Hear thoughts sing,
Watch notes rise
Like fire’s breath.
I ask the wind
To send this song
To where dreams live
And wait for his eyes
To open the gates.

The Corneal Gates © Patricia Carragon (used with permission)