Walking – graffiti clamours – bang bang bang,
hydraulic hammers drive foundations in,
bolded hoardings cover yawning gaps within.
I search the patchwork sky – escape the clang…
someone’s cell phone delivers a harangue…
Nostalgia Lane, bluestone bricks beneath a bin
flowing butts and wrappers – its urban skin
a palimpsest of sturm und drang;
there, decaying ghostly recollections,
once steady hand and eye, careful balance
etched in time on painted bricks and concrete;
heritage vernacular inflections,
although faded add a playful ambience,
our ghost signs still speak graciously in streets.
Sam issued a challenge to write a Miltonian Sonnet. This is my attempt – there are more over at dVerse. Do visit because there are some fabulous examples.
Marousia 
I loved the title before I saw the image then when I realized the ghost signs you meant, I felt excited. I love ghost signs, your sonnet is fabulous.
Thank you Beth – they are my latest obsession
ah you had to know i would love it…you capture well the character of the city, ha…love the visuals…the use of sounds…you have me right there…even down to the cell phone ringing…smiles. and the grit of the trash…i love it marousia…
The city is a never ending subject – I really hoped you’d enjoy it!
I love this!
Thank you 🙂
History in poetry…:)
🙂
Just perfect… loved how all the ghostly calls just rolled into each other… loved it!
Thank you 🙂
Oh very good the soul and story of a city . Love it
Pleased you enjoyed 🙂
perfect urban capture…love all the sounds and details…the cell phone ringing and the hydraulic hammers…very cool marousia
Thank you Claudia – it’s a spot around the corner from my office 🙂
You’ve caught the feel and the character of the urban scene very well.
Thank you so very much 🙂
Love the modern feel in this traditional form ~ Your words are wonderful tribute to graffiti art ~
Milton continues to inspire us 🙂 Thank you!
This is wonderful. I had never thought to call these ‘ghost signs,’ but it sure makes sense. Now you will have me looking for them as I drive around. It is nice to be able to find the beauty in the decay as you do!
hahaha – you’ve caught the bug now too – I look forward to seeing the ghost signs you find 🙂
This is great work–that last line is my favorite, such a perfect rendering. I live in Savannah, GA, where we have many downtown sections that fit your description exactly. Nicely done!
Thank you, I love the urban scenes behind the facades 🙂
Awesome poem on an unexpected topic. Love ghost signs… so much thought and wonder in them.
Thank you
What an amazing read this was – I love the idea of the ghost signs, the “palimpsest of sturm und drang” on the “urban skin”, like phantom tattoos on a body long-decayed. With so much packed into this, I’m thinking of this as one of my favourites of your poems. Definitely bookmark-worthy.
Thank you Sam – I am delighted my sonnet struck a chord with you 🙂
Interesting ghost signs..I’ve often stopped to look at these signs when I am in the city..they tell their own story.
I agree – I love the stories of the city
love the long words here…and the ‘Nostalgia Lane’..fitting with the form very well.;)
Thank you 🙂 the longer words can be challenging for metre 🙂
I love what you’ve done with the sonnet – this is great urban poetry.
Thank you 🙂
I especially like the opening here – where grafitti clamours – many cool reversals of the expected. k.
Thank you – I enjoyed playing with the reversals 🙂
You captured one of Milton’s sonnet rhyme patterns and you got the syllable count — but you were sacrilegious with the iambic meter! But with such a scene and such clamour in concrete, bricks and trash, your choppier metre is much more appropriate. Very urban! Well done. Loved the photo. (I’m following comments, so you can e-mail if needed)
🙂 thank you for dropping by
Okay, I fell in love with this poem by the time I got to ” its urban skin a palimpsest of sturm und drang.” It put me right in the heart of a city and kept me there. Expert sense of place.
Thank you so much 🙂 my objective was to create a sense of place so I am absolutely delighted I hit the mark for you
Those ghost signs of yesteryear hold so much ambience – like keeping some connection with past lives and lifestyles close! Love your images of “patchwork sky” and “urban skins” – suggesting that there is more harmony between Nature and the city clutter than perhaps we may first believe! Intriguing poem!
i hear music in your lines
‘its urban skin
a palimpsest of sturm und drang;’
Love it! This is such a cleverly constructed sonnet that celebrates your love affair with the fading & partially hidden past … & the aesthetic qualities of an aging sign that, somehow, out-arts all the surrounding ad’s & graffiti. Super poem 🙂
Excellent use of this form to describe your trip down gritty nostalgia lane.
Flows nicely. Well done!
Interesting subject matter, and I’m impressed by your rhymes.
The ghost signs add a certain character to the city or the place we live in. Well done.
“there, decaying ghostly recollections,
once steady hand and eye, careful balance
etched in time on painted bricks and concrete;”
A fantastic three lines. A beautiful poem.
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