The Sonnets of Green by Anonymous

The Sonnets of Green
by Anonymous

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The Sonnets of Green
by Anonymous

(With Apologies to Ottorino Respighi)

The Pines of Green:

Away around the northeast end, they grow,
And rain their needles down on one and all;
The needles that are brown, that is: none fall
While green with life: the dead are those that go.
That keeps the trees in fettle fine, although
One might suspect the shedding needles pall
Upon the lawn they fall upon: what gall
Have evergreens to brown the grass below!
The pines are fine: their victims pine away
Beneath their sharp bombardment of the sod:
Its difficult for grass to grow okay
When pinioned under pines, and so it's odd
That both were planted, on some bygone day,
There, on the margins of the Galvez Quad.

The Fountains of Green:

Beside the entrance everyone goes in
The Hoop has long stood dry, collecting dust.
That it may one day run again, we trust
Will happen, for to idle it's a sin.
Beside the western entrance, though, the din
Of splashing water's ever heard. Why must
The unseen side have water? It's unjust
For fountains just to flow where no one's been!
But that a fountain flows at all is grand,
When for so many seasons there were none
To brighten up our days (for all were banned
Until the California drought was done),
And while it's difficult to understand
Why we cannot have two, at least we've one.

The Festivals of Green:

Of old, Old Green's rotunda was arrayed
With things to see, or things to hear instead,
For in the dome much was exhibited,
And on the stairs, musicians often played.
At times, there even were receptions laid
Within those halls, and speeches heard and said,
But that was long ago: those days are dead,
And now the memories grow dim, and fade.
The earthquake closed the dome, and no one goes
Within those hallways, once so full of cheer,
But now forgotten; and nobody knows
If times like those now vanished will appear
In Green again; but if one must suppose,
One must suspect that day's not awfully near.

Originally published in SUL News Notes, October 15, 1993.
c 1993, 1995 Fleabonnet Press for the author.

c 1995 Fleabonnet Press. This page was established Dec. 27, 1995, and last updated Dec. 27, 1995.

The Sonnets of Greenby Anonymous