Here’s another sonnet. Enjoy.
<i>Anxiety</i>
Seek not to bottle up anxiety,
Lest stutters and revisions mar thy speech,
And prudence be the victim of thy worry.
Its sudden tides diffuse upon thy beach
As though an ocean, sweeping past repression,
Washing away whatever bars their reach.
Instead, embrace its waves, and their perdition.
Allow the rapid waters to crash down
Upon the rock that is thy disposition,
Which, 'mid the wild barrage of waves that drown
The grainy sand, and scatter it, will stand
Aloof, as though a monarch in his crown.
Perfection of the spirit, thus expressed,
Will be in thine appearance manifest.
I love the message. I’m not crazy about the use of words like “thy” though. I don’t know if it was for effect, but I think this particular poem could have gone without them. When modern poets use outdated wording, it almost feels like they’re trying to be something rather than achieve an end. It’s not wrong to be blunt in poetry. No need to dance around meaning with old words, IMO.
But in general, it’s really awesome. I like how it actually MEANS something. A lot of poetry is pretentious and I’m sick of reading it.
Thank you. I do think the most valuable part of this poem is the message. I understand what you mean about “thy.” It might seem pretentious, in a context that’s not grand or archaic. But part of the message of the poem is that anxiety, treated correctly, <i>can</i> contribute to make something grand. And I do usually use “thou,” “thee,” etc. in poetry, since I think it’s far more functionable as a pronoun than merely “you.” That’s actually what most major poets did, using “thou” even though it was rarely spoken, until near the 20th century.