The literary landscape has a new focal point this season as Paul A. Freeman secures the top honor at the King’s English Poetry Competition. Announced by the Society of Classical Poets, this achievement highlights Freeman’s command over traditional forms, specifically the sonnet, which he utilizes to capture the disorienting beauty of the natural world.
His winning entry, “February Fog in Abu Dhabi,” stands out not merely for its structural adherence to the sonnet form, but for its tactile rendering of a weather phenomenon that transforms a modern city into a ghost town. The poem moves beyond simple observation, framing the fog as an active invader that dismantles the reliability of human vision.
Fog in Abu Dhabi, photo by Elena Troffimova
Sensory Deprivation and Sound
Freeman’s sonnet operates on a mechanism of sensory substitution. The poem opens with a “nebula” of mist that doesn’t just obscure the view but actively erects a “barricade,” clogging the air with a texture akin to cotton wool. This is a description that feels physical, almost suffocating, as the speaker acknowledges that “eyeball integrity” has been compromised—a modern, clinical phrase that jars effectively against the classical meter.
With sight rendered useless, the universe of the poem recalibrates to audio. The poet isolates specific, minute sounds that are usually drowned out by the visual noise of a city. A cricket’s legs scratching becomes a dominant event; the muffled steps of pedestrians take on a heavy, rhythmic significance. Most striking is the description of traffic, where cars are no longer metallic machines but are reimagined as “hollow kegs” rolling down the tarmac, a hollow, echoing image that suggests emptiness.
“The streetlight punctuation dot, dot, dots”
This line serves as the visual anchor of the piece. The streetlamps are not beacons of safety but merely grammatical ellipses on the pavement, marking the junctions where the speaker walks in a haze. The fog turns the familiar landmarks into vague “shades” and gives a voice to falling leaves, animating the inanimate.
The Hand Behind the Verse
Paul A. Freeman is no stranger to the written word, though his portfolio extends well beyond the fourteen lines of a sonnet. He is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel that has found its way into the curriculum of Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated for German audiences.
His literary footprint is diverse, encompassing two novels, a children’s book, and a massive 18,000-word narrative poem titled Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!—a title that suggests a playful versatility distinct from the somber, atmospheric control displayed in his Abu Dhabi sonnet.
The poem concludes by likening the weather to “nocturnal-driven fears,” a psychological weight that vanishes only when the sun returns to burn the mist away.
Fog in Abu Dhabi, photo by Elena Troffimova
