December practice · sonnet & sketch

This December I’ve set myself a small, personal challenge:
to write one sonnet and make one pencil sketch each day.

It has been many years since I last worked seriously with sonnets, so I am listening carefully again, to meter, rhythm, and breath; learning as I go. I find myself enjoying the practice more than I expected: the slowness, the attention, the act of returning.

Each sonnet is paired with a pencil sketch, a quiet companion to the words.
If a line or image lingers, you are welcome to sit with it. Thank you for reading along this December.

Sonnet — Something I Heard Today

by Melisha

In our bed, with eyes still closed, I heard this sound. 

The sound of your breath moving near my ear.

My eyes stayed closed; I did not turn around.

Close to my heart, and never were you this near.

I felt the gratitude your simple ring brings.

There is no other place I wish to stay.

To have you this close feels like the best thing.

So here I lie until you go away.

Your breath is the song of your loving voice,

The part of you I love and care for long.

There is nowhere I would be by choice.

For every breath you take is love’s true song.

I hear your breath now louder deep in me.

Through all these years, it stays what it must be.