Been trying to feel more free to stretch the meter a little bit. It's frustrating, because my perfectionist little brain is howling, "Goddamnit, just tell me what makes a sonnet a sonnet! What rules CAN'T I break?" But of course, the reason we have Shakespearean sonnets is because Shakespeare broke the rules of Petrarch's sonnets, didn't he? If you're good enough to accomplish the goal while breaking the rules, your rule-breaking is considered innovation.

So as with all art, the answer is that there are no rules you can't break. The better you are, the more rules you will break. The rules, my friends, are a crutch. This is true in all things. The rules are a crutch we use until we have the ability to make good decisions on our own.

I just spit off the dome on this one, and it got pretty esoteric as a result. It’s something about how I see the metaphysical structure of the universe - billions of oceans, sinking their ships. For some reason that image makes sense to me. It's possible I disappeared into my own navel, you tell me. Do I appear to be conveying meaning? Do you feel improved thereby?

Oh, and... if you don't know what a View-Master is, this is your cue to get offa my lawn.

Check out the rest of the 100 Sonnets