Richard Milazzo
Originally published in The Evergreen Review Issue 116 in 2008.
Seventeen sonnets by Shakespeare of Stratford
That would defy time, physic's onslaught and havoc,
Yet could not beget time's most timely desire,
Could not convince me otherwise,
That I might reverse my fate and not remake
The same mistakes rooted blood makes.
And thus aging matter procured nothing that death itself
Could not achieve in a less untimely fashion,
Mirror's mirror on the wall, unseemly flesh,
When mirror's specter is reversed and falls;
And upon that dying gray mantle we rest, and wonder not
Where all appearances and reflections led.
Jacksonville, Florida, October 2, 2006
