Searching the Twitter Wasteland

Searching the Twitter Wasteland

Between the tweets extolling this and that
with shortened links that lead to who knows where.
Among the memes and endless pleas to care
It’s hard to find the gems amidst the scat.
Wait, here’s a GIF (a starlet or a cat),
or terrible injustice to set square,
a story which the tweeter just must share
or worse a joke which usually falls flat.

But read between the lines and find the gems
Ask questions and take time to hear what’s said
Find those who go beyond the quick retort
Not all are simply spouting what they’ve read.
Before your weary soul the crowd condemns
Find those who wisdom and ideas support.


Form: Petrarchan sonnet

In the Petrarchan (i.e. Italianate) sonnets, there is not necessarily a couplet at the end as in Shakespearean sonnets. Instead, there is an octave followed by a sestet. Typically, the octave poses a problem or situation, while the sestet resolves it. There are several variations on the pattern of the sestet. I used the form ABBAABBA CDEDCE in iambic pentameter because that is the form used by Edna St. Vincent Millay in her poem "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why"