Land of the Free
©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson
image by Brandon Mowinkle on Unsplash
Our nation is a sonnet
written in another time –
Set down in 14 lines,
no more, no less.
Petrarchan-styled “sonetto”
[little song], with boundaries clear –
passion revered, but ruled
to fight excess.
Two quatrains (rhyme scheme – “abba”)
set a premise or a query.
Please note: “Abba” bespeaks
a cry to God.
The sestet takes a “volta” [turn]
to challenge, clarify, resolve –
serving the vibrant whole
as lightning rod.
Centuries have come and gone,
the sonnet losing favor –
its song now sacrificed
to feeling free.
With “form” rebranded as “constraint,”
rhyme and meter draw complaint
from poets prone to flirt
with anarchy.
A new volta approaches –
regulation is the key.
Does changing structure yield
more liberty?
Or do old rules hold space
for living free?
I have a healthy respect for the old rules…in poetry and in our constitution. While I am in no way opposed to new ideas, the value of old traditions that have served us well should not be discounted. Ours is not an either/or situation, and I will continue writing sonnets and other forms, upholding the Bill of Rights, and not throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water. Roots are important, and change has more gravitas when it honors the foundation upon which it is built.
If this poem resonated with you, you might also relate to The Power Is Ours.
Tags: America, bill of rights, constitution, freedom, government, poetic forms, poetry, sonnets, USA
