Onegin Sonnet

The streets of Edinburgh, craggy
deliver countless tales to swoon.
Hear now the tale of half-hanged Maggie
who didn't want to leave too soon.
Maggie was sentenced for concealing
a pregnancy -- still birth revealing
adultery.  Widow, she was,
that -- in the day -- sufficient cause.
They hung her.  Put her in a coffin,
and carted off for last respects
but just when nobody expects
(though in tall tales, this happens often)
she wakes.  And never hung again.
They called it justice, now and then.

Author notes: Onegin Sonnet https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/half-hangit-maggie-scots-woman-who-survived-hanging-622567

Ah, Ozymandias, in college;
I think it was in English class,
still in pursuit of carnal knowledge,
struck up a convo with a lass.
I wasn't sure about my chances;
my weak attempts, hardly advances,
did not at first amount to much.
But lyrics, rock, she liked as such.
I first impressed her with Tom Sawyer,
Rush, gilded cage, a Shakespeare riff,
and my performance, a bit stiff,
at least did not seem to annoy her,
and though I laid it on too thick,
Ozy and Ozzy did the trick

Author notes: Pushkin narrative sonnet

Another call. The faces take their places.
A choreographed dance, fit for the stage.
Cliched, exhausted, hackneyed social graces
and tedious routines refuse to age:
"oh, hahaha, I think you are on mute",
"I'm loving your new background, it's so cute!"
A few more fits and starts, the meeting lingers.
I push it to the side, my nimble fingers
are working on a Wordle while they chat.
I cannot mute it though, might miss a question
and get invited to another session.
(Yeah, fitting words to boxes is all that!)
The last two years, you ask? They have been trying.
But all in all, preferable to dying.

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2803653-Poetry-Symposium-Competition-Sonnet-Categor A modified Onegin sonnet

Perun', the Thunder God, jails Veles,
and peace and justice rule the land.
The shapeshifter, though, ever jealous,
escapes forthwith as he had planned.
The world descends to war and chaos.
The priests preach vengeance from their dais',
and shamans call for sacrifice;
fruit offerings shall not suffice.
As tribe by tribe men join the battle,
the gods rest, watching from above,
Death is a symbol of their love;
the slain, their sacrificial cattle.
To Slavic gods, like all the rest,
two warring brothers taste the best.

Author notes: A Pushkin sonnet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Slavic_deities

the year ahead will no doubt test us
as tribulations follow trials
let not paralysis arrest us
in futile and obscene denials
let us instead engage each other
and let no man deny his brother
humanity's genteel embrace
without regard to creed or race
let us unshackle every collar
be honest and be pure of heart
rewarding each who plays their part
unchain them from the mighty dollar

and give them crypto chains instead
and let the central banks know dread

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2796178-Write-a-Sonnet-on-2022-Journey- this is an Onegin or Pushkin sonnet https://www.yahoo.com/now/does-diamond-hands-mean-160304297.html#:~:text=Diamond%20Hands%20Defined,get%20greedy%20when%20prices%20rise.

I view a poem as a puzzle
the words must come together thus
add some pizzazz and razzle dazzle
and the result is worth the fuss
the birds will chirp along so sweetly
and lovers will embrace discreetly
and if you dare, more than embrace
(and if you don't _______ leave a blank space)
at last, you feel you are a poet
and earned your place among the greats
the lack of recognition grates
but as they say, at least you know it
and doubt, your enemy, dissolved
the words trail off, the puzzle solved

*******************************************************
older version

I view a poem as a puzzle
the words must come together thus
add some pizzazz and razzle dazzle
and the result is worth the fuss
the birds will chirp along so sweetly
and lovers will embrace discreetly
and if you dare, more than embrace
(and if you don't _______ leave a blank space)
at last, you feel you are a poet
and place yourself among the greats
your audience, though, the ingrates
does not as yet appear to know it
oh well, you must write for yourself
and so I fill up shelf by shelf

Author notes: An Onegin sonnet https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795466-Give-me-a-Pushkin-Sonnet--Big-Points-