Downstairs/Upstairs: A Sonnet Pair

A/N: Decided on a whim to try this poetic structure to see if I could make it work for my longer story currently in progress. You could probably read these poems without much context and get the gist of what's going on, but they will make a lot more sense if you've read Something Worth Winning.

Traditional sonnets are iambic-pentameter poems of fourteen lines written with a two-part structure that covers a problem or question in the first part and an answer or insight, known as the "turn," in the second part (in this case, the turn is in the closing couplet). You'll notice some slightly-quaint word choices, a first person POV, and lots of figurative language, which will probably read a bit anachronistic for the poem's setting and its speakers (who don't actually talk like this), but I was going for an old-fashioned feel as befitting the poetic form.

Thanks for indulging my geekery, and for giving this a read! :)

The Boy Downstairs Is Quite A Mystery

.

The boy downstairs is quite a mystery;

He hesitates whenever I draw near,

And all my friendly overtures, it seems,

Serve only to dismay instead of cheer.

.

I've heard his passion speak with much at stake,

But no such candor when he speaks with me;

I wonder what unproven tact would make

His tongue unfettered and his voice set free?

.

The words are locked away, the key concealed.

I haven't found the clue, though I have tried.

His reticence, protective like a shield,

Renders my teasing efforts nullified.

.

But sometimes when he smiles, not upset,

Deep down I know I'll win him over yet.

The Girl Upstairs Is Inexplic'bly Bright

.

The girl upstairs is inexplic'bly bright

And baffling like a full moon at midday,

And even when her warmth is small and slight,

I falter, and I don't know what to say.

.

Her cheerful smile knocks upon the door;

I hear the sound and hesitate within,

Too stirred to keep her waiting anymore,

Unsure of whether I should let her in.

.

I either speak too much, or not at all;

She seems intrigued (I can't imagine why)

And climbs a tree to peek over the wall

While beck'ning from her perch up in the sky.

.

But though I sense she wants me to be free,

In truth...I think her warmth has captured me.