Anne liked my sonnet

How to survive a tornado, by Jude Goodwin

You'll need a heavy coat of metaphor
and fleece, some oil to keep you loose, and when
the winds thumb down upon your life pretend
to be a fish, transform your bones, explore
the bend, the slip of bodies fish adore.
There'll be debris as dreams and plans upend
and there'll be love, so spin your fins, extend
the feather of your gills and swim: for shore,
for light, the taste and press of scale to skin.
Be thin between the whorls and when the drain
begins the suck to draw you in, you'll need
to be a seed: sharp husked, a thorn within.
The storm will rage, constrict and spit. When freed
put down your roots. The sky will break like rain.

Perfect rhythmically, original and beautiful. Were you aware of the echoes you set going with internal vowel rhymes: swim/ skin/ thin/ begins/ in/ within/? Congratulations!

Anne Stevenson

This was my entry in the March Guardian Workshop. Well, actually, my entry was a sonnet titled COFFEE, but we were asked to submit two sonnets. The above poem was written for the January Guardian Workshop (write a 'how to' poem) that I didn't have the nerve to send in. I'm happy, anyhow. I've always liked sonnets. My very first poems were sonnets.

If I could just figure out Haikus! Speaking of which, I found a good page online through Poetry.Org describing a 'Haiku Slam' - hmmm what the heck is a slam? Click Here ::>