This is my first try at a modified Petrarchan sonnet. Be gentle with me, muse!
- Walking down the street, I spied the perfect ass
- She was rather flat on top, however
- This doesn’t mean that I would say never
- Why force ourselves to give little shortcomings a pass?
- My voice did not tremble; I did not speak fast
- I approached with hands wide apart
- Not a modern travesty, a lost art
- She wasn’t wilting; she was full of sass
- But she gave me an Indicator of Interest
- A toss of the hair, touched most gently
- And looked me in the eyes with the force of a fist
- Now I was getting sexually hungry
- I got her number in short order
- To my little stable I’ll add another hoarder
Dark Sport 
I’m not a fan of strict form poetry but I can see one possible technical adjustment. “Bass” as in a voice or musical instrument is pronounced like “base” so it doesn’t rhyme with “sass”. Yikes, that form is difficult: I don’t know that I could ever do it if I had to stick to the traditional:
ABBA ABBA CDE CDE . And I think I’d have to ignore the syllable count and rename the form or something. However, I had two notions:
My voice, not trembling; a clear bass for the Lass
…
…
…
She not wilting but full of sass
I don’t know, maybe:
My voice, not trembling, a basso profundo for the Lass
GN: The line ending in “fast” used to be “bass” but Doug correctly reminds us that “bass” is pronounced “lace” not “lass.” So I fixed this. Thanks again to Doug’s eagle eye. This isn’t the first time he’s caught me in a boo-boo.
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It is acceptable to sometimes in poetry go by the phonetic spelling of a word rather than its spoken equivalent, hence “bass” is acceptable. Actually, though, the strict requirements of the form make it easier to write. The necessity to rhyme directs the thought processes, encouraging creativity in specific avenues. It’s not that bad, really. You should try it sometime.
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Scratch what I said: a sonnet, by definition, has to rhyme, starting in the ABBA ABBA pattern. There are no exceptions.
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Well, OK. Some people make up their own form with their own special rules and occasionally other people pick up the rules and do their copy version. Before the sonnet was invented (or derived from folk songs or whatever) and made “official” there were no such rules.
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My follow-up comment canceled out this opinion. The sonnet has to rhyme, period.
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skilllfully done, Greg , and entertaining —
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I’m glad it was entertaining! Rarely does a poem qualify on those grounds alone. You chose the perfect word to make my day.
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cheers, Greg 🙂
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