Sonnet 106 Revisited Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

When in the poetry of days long past
I read heroic tales composed in euphonic verse
Describing military victories on fields most vast
I sit and think how prettily these epics must nurse
The handicapped vanity of our contemporary landed lords
Whose ancestors procured for them their grand estates
Through courtiers' conceits and valorous deeds with swords
Which in the hands of their bumbling sons must crumble and deflate.
What have these gentlemen left but the metered myths of England?
How must their ladies wish their future suitors were more like those
That fought in tourneys where favors fluttered and armor glistened
Than this timid set of descendants quoting Spencer and holding roses.
For we who stand witness to how far great families can fall
Must take heed to the prophesy of apathy that dooms us all.