mandysee_mandydo | Oh, Petrarch! How Shall I Love My Self? (Reply)

I finished True Selves tonight and at the end there is a collection of poetry from transsexual people. They really inspired me to write poetry for the first time in years. Considering my obsession with Petrarch, I decided a fitting twist to the traditional Italian sonnet form would be my feeling of unrequited self-love. It felt good to put the feelings to poetry. It's been so long...

Oh, Petrarch! How Shall I Love My Self?

How sly she is to hide in dark and mist!
    And I shall gaze through glass in hope to see
    Her smile and grace reflect along with me:
    A glimpse of someone new yet deeply missed.
Oh! Surely how I wish for just one tryst,
    One chance for us as one and all to be.
    And in that time I lose myself in she,
    Forever lost from Atlas' manly list.

But then with time and searching depths of soul
    In places long I feared not tread or look
    Shall I but meet her gaze and know her gift.
And she will fill this vast and wrethced hole,
    And bits of me shall fill each vacant nook
    So I, as she, can make this dread fog lift.

"Nature chooses who will be transgender; individuals don't choose this." - Mercedes Ruehl