Threnody (Italian Sonnet) Poem by Gert Strydom

(for Annelize, after Dorothy Parker)

Where in my heart and life everything does shatter
in the garden the roses still blossom sweet,
other people do still walk happily in the street
and you are the only one to whom it does matter,

where the birds outside do still constantly chatter
I have laid my pain and sorrow at your feet,
but a thousand miles are too far to meet
while life does me down on my knees batter

and innocent the attacks of her friends never cease,
tearful lips they say are the greatest for kissing
in the dark embracing arms are much whiter
while you do help me to pickup all the broken pieces
and now I realize that you for years I have been missing
where days with you in them seem very much brighter.

[Reference:"Threnody" by Dorothy Parker.]