I am continuing my series of sonnets on Thirteen Virtues found in\u00a0Benjamin Franklin\u2019s autobiography. On the subject of Chastity. Franklin wrote, \u201cRarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another\u2019s peace or reputation.\u201d I was also inspired by French writer La Rochefoucauld (b.1613 – d.1680) who wrote \u201cOur virtues are usually only vices in disguise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Audacity of Chastity<\/strong><\/p>\n Chastity today seems like an old-fashioned virtue In the 21st century it\u2019s difficult to practice chastity Promiscuity in Perpetuity<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we take for virtues are often a collection of different acts and personal interests pieced together by chance or our own ingenuity and it is not always because of valor or chastity that men are valiant or women chaste.\u201d <\/em> Promiscuity is an ancient centuries old vice If this seems intended hope you\u2019re not offended JOEY \u2018PEPE BATBON\u2019 CONNOLLY (Special to the Saipan Tribune)<\/strong> I am continuing my series of sonnets on Thirteen Virtues found in\u00a0Benjamin Franklin\u2019s autobiography. On…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":355846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[26,23672,23673,13843],"class_list":["post-362864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-cnmi","tag-lvnv","tag-nola","tag-pepe-batbon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nfor some folks, monks, and nuns it\u2019s not old-fashioned
\ntake multiple partners and chastity will desert you
\nwhile promiscuity goes hand in glove with passion
\nmany religious orders take lifetime vows of celibacy
\nand live lives of meditation and constant prayer
\ntheir critics say this is abnormal and fanatic lunacy
\nand that there is no need to shave your head bare<\/p>\n
\nto try to stay chaste and pure you will need audacity
\nto remain a virgin or practice maintaining marital fidelity
\nand have a grasp of your physical and mental reality
\navoid the pitfalls of popular lax social confluence
\nof hormones\u2014keep thoughts of chastity in pursuance.<\/p>\n
\n \u2014La Rochefoucauld\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwhen time and temperature seem to jump and jive
\ninvolving sexual exploration and some spice
\nwhen action between partners bodies come alive
\nsome say prostitution is the world\u2019s oldest profession
\nI believe it was preceded by the vice promiscuity
\nthe truth be known by those honest in confession
\nsex with many partners has been practiced in perpetuity<\/p>\n
\nwill it be disregarded, thrown out, or upended
\nwill cross swearing about it be extended
\nmost obstinate minds will never be bended
\nhopefully any old friendships are mended
\nand new friendships are nurtured and tended.<\/p>\n
\nJoey aka Pepe Batbon is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is a sonnet practitioner who enjoys stargazing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"