Love Poem: So Sadly Now, These Arms
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Written by: Brian Johnston

So Sadly Now, These Arms

So sadly now, these arms of mine, not finding you at all
Imagine Grace to be in doubt, that love is just on call
 
For fools who've never felt LOVE'S pain, known Flood from Heaven's rain!
 
The Painter's muted palette seems bereft of lovely tints.
Though early grapes showed promise, still bright saffron's yellow hints
The cowardice of Rainbow's posture hides a lack of nerve,
And ozoned air suggests a flaw disguised by 'breadth of curve,'
 
More subtle hews, aren't there, replaced (their colors drained, unfaced)
 
In dawn’s light greyed as if some darkness dined on colors bright
The ‘rods’ (1) of 'retina' may thrive, but 'cone' (2) heads hide in fright!
Will grapes ferment (in time) you think to serve a lover's need
Or is this just more selfishness that points to Poet’s greed
 
In this the time of woman's loss? Dear God, then who is Boss?
 
If humor found in sundry lines, there's no doubt ego flows,
Liquidity, though aid, not wealth, as ANY famine shows!
 
Brian Johnston
17th of May in 2019
 
Poet's Notes:
The retina of the eye is composed of two types of sensors, the rods (1) (which enable us to see in very dim light, though only in black and white) and the cones (2) (which require a lot more light to function at all but which enable us to see color). The retina is wonderfully an exposed extension of the human brain and contains computational neural cells that process the data provided by the rods and cones. This encoded data gets sent via the optic nerve to our larger, more protected brains.

A fun fact - Light has to traverse through this layer of neural cells to get to the rods and the cones so that we see far less acutely than we might. There is only one animal on earth where God (or evolution) got it right, the octopus. Given that evolution is inferred by the shared genetic components of all life on earth, either God is a mediocre engineer, or He seems to learn with time! Whatever is true, the octopus wins the ‘Gold Medal’ as earth’s best-designed eye, which is markedly superior to the human eye!

You are witnesses here to the birth of a new poetic form which shall henceforth be called a "Brianic Sonnet!" and yes, that's "Brianic Sonnet," not "Moronic Sonnet," I hope! Good Sir (or Madam) I pray that God has graced you with broader life experience and education than the typical college graduate gets! Never underestimate the 'broad' for truth is always 'broader' than you think!