Volume 16:1, Winter 2015
The Sonnet Issue
Anna Nicole’s Dream
A cup of jewels, a star, flying dragons,
Rainbows, a bright diamond crown,
Baby octopus, pirate ships, golden dragoons,
Fairy dust, clouds, snow mist on the ground,
Enchanted woods, Cherry trees, a crystal room,
Conifers and Pines, Magnolias in season,
Tea cups made of acorns where toadstools bloom,
White bunnies, green elves, Azalea breezes,
A picture book with her photo in light,
Loves handprint on the cement of her heart,
Russian soldiers protecting her stables at night,
Three bluebirds, twin cardinals, a morning skylark.
But who are these men blocking sun in her room?
And why dont her paper bouquets ever bloom?
This poem previously appeared in the anthology Hot Sonnets, Entasis Press, 2011. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Grace Cavalieri was Maryland’s tenth Poet Laureate Her new books are: Sticks And Stars (for children, 2026;) Fables from Italy and beyond (2025;) The Third Voice (2025;) and Owning The Not So Distant World which won the Blue Light Book Award, (2024;) Her most recent play in NYC was “Quilting The Sun” about ex-slave Harriet Powers. She founded and still produces “the Poet and the Poem” for public radio, now from the Library of Congress celebrating 50 years on-air in 2027. Twenty-five years of her podcasts were sent to the moon on lunar codex 2023. Among her awards, are the CPB silver medal, the George Garrett Award, Bordighera Prize, Paterson Prize, two Allen Ginsberg Awards. Cavalieri is featured in 2025’s The Best American Poetry Anthology. She is an Academy of American Poets Fellow.