Sonnet Forms, Models, Frames
Studies in the Sonnet Poetry Form
By Mike Garofalo
Table of Contents: Alphabetical
Per...
Poems in the Sonnet Form by Mike Garofalo
Granted, I don't live at the sea.
I'm an inlander, you see, but
living not far from the Pacific
Ocean visted by others and me.
To watch the dark wet sand
splashed by churning surf.
To feel the cold splashing sea
bounce on my knees. Exhilirated
by wave after walls of water waves.
Later, rested, dried off, sat still
around a campfire pit glowing and
talked about people who died.
In the cold dark night the sounds
of the surf melted the campfire light.
mpgSonnet 960, Jan 12, 2025
King T wanted everyone to say
Gulf of America Not Gulf of Mexico
No matter what all the maps might display.
Better Gulf of the Americas, si o no.
King T fires employees every day
Especially if you get in his way.
He knows well about bankruptcy,
Fraud, lies, legalese; so others can't see.
King T Orders: Open the Valves
Tap the "unlimited water" from
Canada and the Northwest.
Unlimited water is a myth.
King Tut is the Commander in Chief,
Head Honcho, President. Good grief.
mpgSonnet 955, Jan 21, 2025
King T promised to daily Strive
to cut our Government down to size
castrate Departments and Agencies
eliminate benefits people use to survive.
He grants pardons to convicted felons
MAGA Insurrectionists from Jan 6th,
Right-Wing White Boys, yelling-trashing
People injured and dead
on Capitol floor.
King T busy telling everyone
what to Do to be in his good favor
or else he will Do this or Bad That
to your people until you obey.
Busy, bossy, rich King T will go
until his stone-cold heart finally blows snow.
mpgSonnet 950, Jan 25, 2025
mpgSonnet 935, Jan 29, 2025
Contents Listed in Alphabetical Order
Sonnets by Mike Garofalo
Bellies of Chevies 915
Bookstore by the Sea 965
Camas on the Columbia 915
Columbia River Volcanic Cliffs 930
Disappointment at the Cape 925
Hwy 99 Stoner's Roost 920
Pacific Beach Rainstorm 905
Sunset Bay Blues 945
Vancouver Fort at Dusk 940
Contents Listed in Numerical Order
Sonnets by Mike Garofalo
905 Pacific Beach Rainstorm
910 Bellies of Chevies
915 Camas on the Columbia
920 Hwy 99 Stoner's Roost
925 Disappointment at the Cape
930 Columbia River Volcanic Cliffs
940 Vancouver Fort at Dusk
945 Sunset Bay Blues
965 Bookstore by the Sea
Thematic Index, Topics, Subjects
Index to Sonnets by Mike Garofalo
In your web browser or PDF viewer,
press Ctrl + F to open the Search
Box. Type in the number listed below,
to go the the bottom of the poem
with the subject that you want to read.
Automobiles 935
Beachcombing 945
Beginner 969
Campfire 960
Cape Disappointment 930
Coos Bay OR 945
Concrete Poetry 935
Crash, Smash! 935
Criminals 950, 935
Death 969, 935
Donald Trump 955, 950
Drunk Driving 935
Huntington Beach 960
King T 955, 950
News 950, 955
Night 960
Politics 950, 955
Seashore 960
Sunset Bay OR 945
Topical Current Stuff 955, 950
Yurt Camping 945
In January of 2025, I have many used and new books in my home library (VSCL) that I use for researching, modeling, reflecting upon, composing commentary, studying and writing Sonnets.
Here is a list of the Sonnet books that are currently in my home library (VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library) in Vancouver, WA:
The Penguin Book of the Sonnet: 500 Years of a Classic Tradition in English. Edited by Phillis Levin. Penguin, 2001, 448 pages. Used, well worn, paperback. VSCL.
The Making of a Sonnet: A Norton Anthology. Edited by Eavan Boland and Edward Hirsch. Reprint Edition. Norton, 2009, 512 pages. VSCL.
Shakespeare's Sonnets. Edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones. The
Arden Shakespeare, 1997, index, 488 pages. VSCL.
The Sonnet: An Anthology. A Comprehensive Selection of British and American Sonnets from the Renaissance to the Present. Edited by
Robert M. Bender and Charles L. Squier. Washington Square Press, 1985, 428
pages. VSCL.
The American Sonnet: An Anthology of Poems and Essays. Edited by Dora Malech and Laura Smith. University of Iowa, 2023, 383 pages.
25 Steps and Beyond; An Anthology
At the Edges of the West, Volume 2
Memories of Pacific Coast Places
Sonnets: Supplementary Texts, Links, Articles, Books
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry. By Robert Hass. pp.121-186.
A Poet's Guide to Poetry. By Mary Kinzie.
frank: sonnets. By Diane Seuss. 2020, 154 pages, Won the Pulitzer Prize.
Art of the Sonnet. By Stephanie Burke. Belknap, 2011, 464 pages.
Sonnets to Orpheus. By Rainer Marie Rilke. Bilingual Edition. Translations and editing by Mark S. Burrows. Monkfish, 2024, 190 pages.
The Sonnets: By Jorge Luis Borges. A Bilingual Edition. Edited by Jill Levine, et. al. 2010, 335 pages.
I also use books from the FVRL = Fort Vancouver Regional Library System, Clark County, WA.
Poets Writing Sonnets: Jorge Luis Borges, Rainer Marie Rilke, Diane Seuss, William Shakespeare
Beginner's Luck
I began reading Sonnets for the first time in my life in the winter of 2025.
I studied the literary commentators, teachers, and Sonnet master guides.
I was an old man in 2025, 78 years old and surprised that I was still alive.
I could still lift a pencil, walk, garden, read, write, laugh, listen, thrive.
My brother-in-law, Junior P, died today, in Indiana, at the age of 87.
Mr. Alzheimer and Mrs. Pneumonia escorted him to Baptist Heaven.
I imagined my self becoming an English Major student at WSU Vancouver.
I pretended I was a poet, a Lit-Head Hip hipster, a cool author in disguise.
We know a few who said a prayer to the good Babtist God, before Junior died.
We hope God listened and told Barbara, Junior's late wife, that God too cried.
I read and read, listened, took notes, memorized phrases, studied hard.
I thought about Sonnets, their history, their forms, their great bards.
So, I picked up a pencil and started to write a amateur's sonnet;
But could not get it just right; and just gave up then; to my regret.
mpgSonnet 970, Jan 2, 2025
Reading is the best road to success
for beginners ready to be the best.
Sonnets:
14 Lines, Up to 20 Lines
Rhymed and Free Verse
Typographical variety
Calligraphy on art works
A 500 Long History in European Literature
Spanish, French, and English Versions
Michael Peter Garofalo (1946-) grew up in East Los Angeles, was educated in Catholic Schools, lived with two other brothers, graduated (B.A., M.S.) from local universities, married Blanche Karen Eubanks, served in the US Air Force, worked in and managed many City and Los Angeles County Public Libraries, raised two children, socialized, traveled, and learned. Retired as the Regional Administrator, East Region, Los Angeles County Public Library in 1998. We moved to a rural 5 acre property in Red Bluff, in the North Sacramento Valley, CA. Webmaster since 1999. Worked part-time for the Corning School District (Technology and Media Services Manager); and as a yoga, Taijiquan, and fitness club instructor until 2016. Traveled extensively in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington. We both retired, and we moved to Vancouver, WA, in 2017. Currently in 2025: reading, writing, gardening, harmonica playing, string figures playing, playing electronic keyboard, home chores, yurt camping, activities with grand children, exercise, traveling in the Northwest, web publishing, family events, poetry research, photography, Northwest research, Nature mysticism, walking, sports events, and other projects.
Exhibits at the Cyber Gazebo: Text Art and Concrete Poetry
By Michael P. Garofalo
This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on January 30, 2025.
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