The Golden Gate

Dear friends and readers, I suggest
You give this book in verse a chance
To show what Vikram Seth does best:
'Tween friends and lovers, the cautious dance
That opens up a heart to joy
While risking heartache.  John, a boy
Is unable to find a girl
Until he gives the personals a whirl.
He finds real happiness with Liz,
While John's friend Phil meets her bro Ed
And for a while they share a bed.
But like old soda loses fizz
Their passions could not hold the spark
They started with, and things turned dark.

For John and Liz 'twas politics -
And her old house cat Charlemagne -
Which caused the rent they could not fix
In their bliss, and which led to pain.
While in the case of Ed and Phil,
Religion proved the poison pill.
Other themes the book did cover:
Nuclear power, the death of a lover,
Single parenthood, loss and grief.
Though a series of sonnets it was not
Difficult, pretentious, or a hard lot
To get through.  But what a relief
To have this review finally written;
With the poetry bug I've not been bitten.

Next up: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.