Poetry: Sonnet 209 by Jacqueline Collo

Haunting words leave me a man to abhor,

And yet my part eats at me, plagued with guilt.

Was I so wrong to jump to rage before?

The look in his eyes—honest—makes me wilt.

 

Though his words move, I remain uncertain

And emotionally with me he pleads,

But I know that the heart is a burden.

When our time ends, will it be me who bleeds?

 

Though I turn away, part of me still craves

To embrace the burn and feel less hollow.

Each thought of him washes o’er me in waves,

Poetry on the page; gifts from Apollo.

 

Our end on the horizon, feel the fear…

For without a muse, what’s a balladeer?

Jacqueline Collo is currently a senior at the University of Pittsburgh studying English Writing with a focus in fiction. Post-graduation, she plans to pursue an MFA in writing and a career as a literary agent. She is interested in exploring the morally gray character, both as a reader and writer. Her poem, Limerence, and short story, The House of Mirrors, can be found in Northampton Community College’s Literary Magazine, The Laconic.