In the Days of the Green Comet
(February, 2023)
A green-tailed comet’s in the sky tonight;
Neanderthals and cats with sabre teeth
were last to see it glistening this bright.
But neither now is wandering beneath
this ice-and-dust phenomenon whose head
bedazzles as it closes on the sun.
When next it visits, will Mankind be dead,
his planetary annihilation done?
Or will we have migrated to the stars
to start afresh from failure? Or will Earth
be habitable still, with planes and cars
and humankind sustained with every birth?
Exploiters or custodians, our place
is touch-and-go in cosmic time and space.
The above poem won Second Honorable Mention in the 2025 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest.
Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught in Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated into German. In addition to having two novels, a children’s book and an 18,000-word narrative poem (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!) commercially published, Paul is the author of hundreds of published short stories, poems and articles.
Very clever, Paul. I like the way you capture the vast sweep of cosmic time and, in doing so, put mankind in its proper perspective.
Thank you, Paul, for this vividly expressed and thought-provoking sonnet. I especially like the evocative reference to prehistory in lines 2-4, the effective use of hyphens in lines 5 and 14 and the stark choice of ‘exploiters or custodians’ in line 13. I’m not surprised your poem was honourably mentioned! Best wishes, Bruce
Congrats on the contest win for this thought-provoking and well-constructed sonnet, Paul!