To See Again the Stars
Published in
Dec 11, 2020
Sonnet © 2020 Matthew de Lacey Davidson
“E quindi uscimmo a rividere le stelle.” — Dante, INFERNO (XXXIV:139)
Magnanimous — is their ideal.
Equality — their point of view.
But is what they tell us real?
With fragments of decorum few
and far between (and hard to find),
how is it that they misconstrue
events persisting merely in the mind?
Do we ignore three faces on a head,
when what we see can make us blind?
Should I make peace with people whom I dread
(a rope, a rape, an oven) when
their dearest wish: to see me dead?
Is compassion, then, beyond the ken
of those with sword, who hold no pen?
Line 8 is a reference to the final Canto of Inferno by Dante.
