A Sonnet

After the "Contents" of Vikram Seth's verse-novel

Dedicated to Tony Mann

The world goes on while friends are sleeping.
The clever works of Pears and Gray arrive.
Marin's Suitte generates a meeting.
The memories of April's London are alive.
Pembroke's poems are ripe, in prime condition.
The reader cannot prevent rendition.
Arrests occur. A speech is made.
Tea's been sipped, and Scrabble played.
A quarrel is initiated.
Marginalia written in early winter light.
The Golden Gate lights up the night.
An old affair with books is renovated.
Friends meditate on friends who've gone.
The years go by; the world goes on.