Sonnet Poem by Don Pearson

(For my mother, who taught me about sonnets)

He slept and in his dream a Word arose.
That comforted the weak, the poor, the maimed.
The dying and the hungry from it gained
Some strength to bear their toil and daily woes.

The Word engendered hope and fostered love
Made brothers out of foes and helped them shine,
Brought certainty and truth and life sublime.
The sun broke through the sullen clouds above.

He must release its power, reveal it all.
He wakened full of hope and spoke the Word.
A strange fire lit the eyes of some who heard.
They fought for it; in shock, he saw men fall.

One Word subsides as man stares in its face.
But wait, another comes to take its place.

8th September 2008