Sonnets

Sonnet 1: “What, freely offer me the Power’d Ring?” – a Galadriel sonnet

What, freely offer me the Power’d Ring?
I must admit my heart has long desired this.
Such blood is lost over so small a thing,
And ‘gainst its pull you think me true and guileless.
Where now a Dark Lord rules, you seat a Queen –
Not dark, but fair and awful as the dawn;
And treacherous as seas of churning green
Storming and wrecking sailors in their yawn.
Yea, strong as the foundation of the earth,
With all men’s fortunes subject to my care;
Tempests my rage, and hurricanes my mirth;
And all the world shall love me and despair.
I turn the Ring aside; I pass the test;
Galadriel I’ll stay, and journey west.

Sonnet 2: “You scare me, Doctor, risking patients’ lives” – a Beverly Crusher sonnet (cf: “Ethics”, ST: TNG S5E16)

You scare me, Doctor, risking patients’ lives
All in the name of research justifying;
Though Worf now freely walks and ably thrives,
Your research could have ended in him dying.
For genuine research, there’s work to do;
A lifetime to investigate each issue;
But that is for mere mortals; not for you –
For you take shortcuts – right through living tissue.
For you, advancing knowledge figures first,
And death incurred along the way’s all just;
I think you’re killing just to sate your thirst,
And violating our most sacred trust.
I’m sure your work a breakthrough will be thought;
Enjoy your laurels, Doctor. I could not.