Well Red

Sonnet

The book is red, bright red, that’s plain to me.

Okay, it’s black, but that’s just years of grime.

It is the office dictionary, see?

And when it is consulted - every time -

a new thumbprint is left to join the rest.

Across the years it’s been consulted - ooh,

let’s see now - several thousand times at least;

collects detritus from the desktop, too.

Sometimes we check reality, exact;

illusion is a well-thumbed word as well.

Oh, yes, the book’s bright red and that’s a fact;

you only have to look and you can tell.

And yet we’re startled when that colour’s seen

so brightly where my coffee cup has been.

Reviews

[Betty Hermelee]

A nice rhyme to begin….and then the chat about the book cover , but it’s never opened in this setting, just about its age and how important it is to so many….the red color fades over time, just like white paper turns yellow over time…over the ages many words have sprouted meaning….. nice write.
Best
Betty

[John the Baptist]

I believe we have a Shakespearean sonnet here. Well done. It is said you can't tell a book by its cover. I believe the sonnet's lesson is that reality cannot be judged by what is apparent. In fact, the full truth about anything cannot be grasped by looking at its surface.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I relate to this...I have a dictionary in our school office...it is a big Red Websters...
and sometimes it finds itself changing color.
j.

[Andrew John]

Thanks, J. This was several years ago when I worked in the features department of a Coventry newspaper. There was certainly a red/black dictionary there!