A Sonnet

"What pain it was to drown"

Beneath the winds and waves of stormy night
Lies water cold but peaceful, in which I,
Recoiling from the thought of any fight
Might lose my soul to deadly fantasy.

Both corpse and open coffer lie below
And sapphires shine where once were living eyes
But, poetry-beguiled, I do not know
That metaphors incarnate are vile lies.

My mind and senses numb, I reach to touch
A coronet of gold on weed-wreathed hair
I pry a scepter from a corpse’s clutch
And will not recognize my need for air.

So that I’ll seek the true, immortal crown,
Lord, let me feel what pain it is to drown.