A Life, Should, Like A Sonnet Be

A life should, like a sonnet, be contained,
Yet free within bounds of some dear order.
Alive each moment, clear, yet soul restrained,
Attuned to nature; mark well its border.

For life, as art, its precious light may shine
Beyond its end. And so may poem be praised
Long after author pens its words to sign
A faith that spirit may be always raised
Above the plane we see from day to day.

Each life, if like a verse, would end aware
That time, if nothing else, cannot be stayed,
Nor form dismissed without a care.

To live as well as one may do with grace,
To die and know that all is in its place.