Five sonnets

Two sonnets here on fear, one for Earth Day the 22nd, and an appropriation of a famous Shakespearean sonnet for his birthday the 23rd. The last sonnet is for a friend and colleague, Ms. Renee Simao, who passed away last week.

(thoughts of someone with)
OMBROPHOBIA—FEAR OF RAIN
even a few cumulus clouds overhead
just the increase of humidity and a few drops
causes me to want to stay home in bed
until even the potential of rainfall stops
some fools like hearing rainfall on tin roofs
I find the noise of rain falling quite abhorrent
can’t tolerate drizzle or drops like some goofs
I completely freak out when rain becomes a torrent
so much so that thunderclouds and downpour
or even the lightest of summer sprinkles
put my fear sensors into a mighty uproar
and cover my face with nervous wrinkles
well that’s my ombrophobic situation
it starts with any kind of precipitation

(thoughts of someone with)
THALLASOPHOBIA—FEAR OF OCEANS
From the tempest a terrible torrent
overflowing the banks of every seaside stream
flotsam and jetsam mix with the current
omnipotent in my evil ocean dream
fishing boats ripped helter skelter from the quay
smashed and broken scattered along the reef
stinking fish floating out in the bay
silently pulled out by a high tidal thief
thank Neptune there are no rotting sperm whales
oil spills in shrimp and oyster beds blackening the coral
perhaps it is calm enough to hoist the foresails
time to heave away from the coastal arboreal
with more respect for and care, time, and devotion
let’s live without fear in synergy with our oceans

EARTH DAYS BEFORE WE WERE BORN
I did not see all of the thoughtless events
that lead us up to the moment where we are
but using everyday basic common sense
we don’t need to look back in the past very far
maybe a hundred years before our parents were born
we began serious pollution of the waters and the sky
as farther and farther from the Earth we were torn
few earthlings stopped to pause and wonder why
I did not hear of all the tragic man made events
that slowly diminished the quality of our daily life
yet entire countries continue on in a manner most dense
little disturbed by the Earth’s present daily strife
there is light in the darkness and clean water in the bay
as people help the Earth by celebrating Earth Day

SHALL I COMPARE YOU TO A SPRING’S DAY
Shall I compare you to an early day in Spring
your brain develops with the freshening green
Ides of March help the sudden garden mind sing
our love moves from sprouts to flower in our bean
during Spring due to bouts of new love and new rain
rivers and eyes of tears overflow their banks
levees and lovers feel the pressure and the strain
drought stricken farms and couples give thanks
your spring shows in your lively step and your lip
as over love’s muddy ground you keep walking
in clear consciousness winter is given the slip
love takes the lead with gossip and talking
as love’s steady Spring rains melt the winter snow
my love for you takes roots and continues to grow

A sonnet in memory of Ms. Melva Renee Simao
(a Tinian school teacher who passed away last week)
Adios Ms. Simao, some called you Renee
we gather at Tinian’s Kammer Beach today
because you have passed and gone away
we’ll pause for a while and silently pray
we’ll miss you and your life’s dedication
to Tinian School students and education
you taught your students to write and to read
and to think so better lives they could lead
you came here from Alaska to Tinian School to teach
we’ll remember your lessons and laugh to the end
you stayed late grading papers not down at the beach
thank you Renee, Ms Simao, our teacher and friend
and in the future between sun rise and sun sinking
when we read and write you will be in our thinking

Written by the author, a colleague and friend of Ms. Simao, who read the sonnet at a service in her honor on April 16, 2015.

Joey “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired teacher and poet living on Tinian who taught English in CNMI public schools for the past 30 years. He has also taught in Alaska, New Orleans, and Las Vegas.