And Now, A Sonnet

Here is the house where two virginities easily lay jamesmaynard.substack.com

I began this series as a way to respond to current events in America. As I sat down to write a sonnet for next week, I was grieved to think another group of children died to a mass shooting. As the father of two, I hate the fear I have, unspoken. I hate you, America, for continuing to make real this fear by your silence.

Eighty-second avenue, the stingier side jamesmaynard.substack.com

Pipedream | The Orange Line, Portland, Oregon jamesmaynard.substack.com

This is the fourteenth and final ( ! !!! ) sonnet of the crown of sonnets, which began here. Here is where the crown would start over again, so if you want to continue on the round, follow the link to the first poem below: As I have mentioned in the previous sonnet, I am changing my publishing schedule to every other Monday so I can work on revisions and publication of this poem.

Poetry deserves perspective. As much as I am glad to make a space for my poems, I understand there is a greater conversation at play. The guest sonnet series is a place where voices, new and established, can be read and worked through. I am proud to devote this space to the work of others. If you wish to be a part of the conversation, look for the contribute link, below. X. P. Callahan spent many years as an editor with Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Stanford University Press and other publishers.

Please read past the poem for an update on posting schedules. Since I don’t publish new poetry on bank holidays, I thought I’d return to an already published piece many of my readers have likely not read. This may be my favorite poem of this series. The first line was inspired by a comment Jessica made to one of our two boys, and set off a spark on the origins of masculine American identity, in this case also white masculine identity, which the series is deeply interested in.

Let's the good guise, somma ship of virtu sink, jamesmaynard.substack.com

Poetry deserves perspective. As much as I am glad to make a space for my poems, I understand there is a greater conversation at play. The guest sonnet series is a place where voices, new and established, can be read and worked through. I am proud to devote this space to the work of others. If you wish to be a part of the conversation, look for the contribute link, below. X. P. Callahan spent many years as an editor with Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Stanford University Press and other publishers.

Today would be the publishing of the thirteenth ( penultimate! ) sonnet of this crown which I’ll arrogantly call “Work in Progress” and began here. This second-to-the-last poem of the crown is perhaps the best poem of the series, and if you have been paying close attention to the movements of this series, you will begin to see things coalesce toward a return, a begin-again, as it were. That poem, however, will not be here this week.