Sixty Sonnets is compared to “Billy Jean” for the first, and presumably last, time . . .
by Ernie on 19/03/09 at 11:20 am
A scientist in England wrote to me about his initial thoughts on the book:
Dipping into Sixty Sonnets. Intense stuff, so I have to take my time in between pop literature and selected passages from Anna Karenina. “Fight or Flight” is killer—not least for its sparseness and simplicity, which must be really tough to pull off. A bit like the drum beat from “Billie Jean.” Very simple, but done very very well and for international distribution to be trusted only to an expert.
“Fight or Flight” by Ernest Hilbert, from Sixty Sonnets
For a retired boxer
Trekking city streets, I am mercury
Tilting in glints down a vertical grid.
I am as much an Iliadic
As a cool Odyssean entity.
I force my course, and I never could
Flee a fight, however idiotic.
It’s easier to run than to stand off,
But then I’d wonder if I could have won
If I had just held my square of sidewalk.
All my flights lead only to further loss.
All victories become added burden.
All escapes and scars may as well be mocked:
Days drizzle to dust, and the cold years creep,
As great oceans gather rain in my sleep.
