We had a recent loss in our family. I wasn’t particularly close to this relative, but I felt the loss keenly since I knew my family experienced heartache and grief during this time. It’s tough being far away from your loved ones during times of grief. You only have words of comfort to offer in the absence of your physical presence. And words can only say so much. I found some comfort in a late afternoon sunset. The beauty of the sunlight in my garden sparked memories of ‘laeveld’ mosquitoes dancing in the light – the inspiration for this poem.

I’m part of a writing community that aims to write 12 poems in 12 months. Each month we receive a prompt and a deadline. For April, we had to write a sonnet and I chose to capture this experience. I don’t write rhyming poetry very often, but working within a fixed structure is a rewarding exercise. This poem is a work in progress, though. I ran out of time and my syllable count is off; a true Shakespearean sonnet has 10 syllables per line and is written in iambic per. But I got the words down on paper – I can always tinker with it later and the writing process itself was healing.

*

Thank you for visiting the Wild Library blog. You might also enjoy another nature poem I wrote after I locked myself out of the house: things you find under trees. I’m a South African living in Ireland and I’m on a mission to identify and learn about Ireland’s wildflowers this year, you can read why here.

Follow me on Instagram for more poetry, plants, and stories or scroll down and subscribe to the blog.

Happy reading,

Chantelle