Zelda's Inferno exercise: write a poem using some lines in iambic pentameter, on the theme of beginnings or commencement
and so the new year rolls around again
bringing thoughts of reflection to mind
where have I been? what have I done?
and has it been enough to satisfy
that longing deep inside to mark the world
with proof that I once walked here for a time?
words I've written - will they be remembered?
the things I've seen - are they just fading dreams?
and those I've loved - will that love be requited?
as I look back at life as lived so far
at years I've traded for experience
and knowledge sought - both outside and within
the things I've seen and done appear to me
as if a montage on a movie screen:
"Previously, in the life of Tom Swiss..."
it all seems prelude to what's yet to come
so now the stage is set, the players prepared
the characters have introduced themselves
the setting sketched and mapped in time and place
preliminaries all have been dealt with
we're ready now -
the story starts to roll...