Italian Sonnet on my Present Purgatory

I need to get my mind under control,

Or else I might not ever find success.

But when I try to focus, dread distress

Engulfs me. Like a damn’d, eternal soul,

I seem to see a future filled with fear

And torment, doomed to fail the friends I cherish.

My faults conspire to cause them all to perish,

And, guilty, I deserve the price severe!

.

The deadlines loom like Damocles’s sword;

The more I try to work, the less I do.

I doubt I’ll e’er complete a single task

Of all the many here. I need the Lord

To chasten me; to give me strength. I ask

For peace of mind, dear Jesus. Help me through!