By Renisha Conner

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A woman’s husband is missing. Whatever happened to him? She has no clue. . .Or does she?

It’s been ten years since he has disappeared.

My one true love who’d leave his mark of love                                 

On me, was the man that I loved and cheered.                                      

I showed the world that I was his beloved.                                        

My being was his and his alone to hold.                                          

The man I loved, loved me in his own way.                                   

The night his grip would stand against the cold.                            

Moments in time, his heart was on display                                   

Until the time he knocked me off my feet.                                  

The pain inside increased beyond my heart.                                 

I crawled onto the midnight street in heat.

So I took care of what had to depart.

With no regrets, I could never forget

The day I won the war and wrecked the threat.

Process

I am a creative writing major in college. In one of my courses, we began the unit on poetry. In this unit, we were focused on writing sonnets and villanelles, as well as looking at prominent writers in that category such as William Shakespeare. My professor challenged us with an exercise of writing either a sonnet like Shakespeare with a turn after the eighth or twelfth line or a villanelle. This poem is my attempt at a sonnet. The sonnet is about a woman reminiscing on her relationship with her husband who initially went missing. The person she’s talking to can be left up to the reader but she is reliving the days of her relationship nonetheless. If this sonnet is read closely, the reader will be able to understand the dynamic of her relationship with her husband and why he went missing. This piece has many underlying details that are up to the reader to dissect. Enjoy!