Rotten Core

My eyes are dark ruins where nothing reigns

Roses are more red-taint than my lips’ paint

Flower blooms true, but vile blood runs my veins

If snakes be hairs, then mine is of same strain

I have seen fire glow, star shine in other

Yet, such spark, when tethered hither, withers

Liquid amor — wine is far more sweeter

Than some ambrosia-kissed-lips from hither

I love to weave fine words that echo divine

Yet, my words pale in sight of masters’ past

World is flush with beauties bright, pure, sublime

My look drips, drags, drools; too drab to broadcast

Yet, these glaring flaws bow to the darkness

That ferments within, frothing to flee its harness

Inspiration

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun, I wanted to try writing a sonnet. However, instead of writing a sonnet about love, I wrote a sonnet on self-hatred and  self-loathing... Focusing first on imageries of physical descriptions, then on other intrinsic qualities.  

Process

A sonnet is a 14 line poem, following the rhyming scheme: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.