Love Poem: The Useless Chase
Andrea Dietrich Avatar
Written by: Andrea Dietrich

The Useless Chase

Addicted to romance, I’ve tried in vain
to resurrect the unrestrained delight
I felt so long ago one summer night -
excitement of the type no one can feign.
I had it once, and I could not abstain
from tasting it. It made my soul take flight.
Then back to earth I plummeted. I write
to bring it back because it has been slain.

Romance is destined not to be revived.
It’s slain by woes and all that’s commonplace.
Life’s demons stole it; now I feel deprived.
It’s drained from me!  I miss its fond embrace.
And so with poetry I have contrived
to bring it back. Alas – a useless chase.

Aug. 26, 2019 for Emile Pinet's Eight Word Challenge Poetry Contest
The 8 words used in this Italian Sonnet in order of how they appear: addicted/ vain/ abstain/ slain/ destined/ woes/ demons/ drained
Note: I do not know why poetrysoup does not correctly identify the rhyme pattern of the second stanza of this poetry form. The first part is abbaabba. Here is what Google says for the finishing sestet:  Some of the most common rhyme schemes for the sestet are cdecde, cdcdcd, cddcdd, and cddece. My preference is cdcdcd.