Sestina Challenge: A Wish
So for Poetry Month my fantastic friend Anita challenged me to a sestina-off, that is, to write a sestina by the end of National Poetry Month. For those who don’t know, a sestina is one most hardcore forms of poetry consisting of six stanzas of six lines (ses means six) that end with the same ending words finishing with an envoy using all those six words. For more guidelines on how to write a sestina check it out here. This is actually my first successful sestina. Mission accomplished! Read Anita’s poem here.
a wish
the language i speak in is hollow and black
words hang loose from the ends of a tree
to form a sentence, a lettering mosaic
prosaic sensations sparking a fire
across the wordy forest, resistant to steel
ablaze a ways away from the domestic
handsome houses sparkle of domestic
dialect, convoluted context in white and black
newsprint, vowels volley against lamppost steel
consonants swish in sewers, no tree
speaks freely just barred in parks, fire
trapped in a lighter-candle-light-bulb mosaic
pieces of wood and glass will smash in mosaic
prophecy, the words wrapped in the domestic
glossary separating the oxygen from fire
leaving behind a carbon copy, smudging black
prints, scars and bruises and gashes on trees
until we stand in the shade of steel
birds etch symbols on branches of steel
word choices sparkle how a coloured mosaic
reflects like a window to left go a lingo, a tree
trunk’s terminology turns domestic
a translation from beats to beeps, from black
to streetlights, our cellphone glow replaces fire.
the language i speak spits fire
from the tongue, stories tougher than steel
sealing secrets from centuries of darkness and black
our resources broken but pieced together a mosaic
of natural manufactual evidences of the domestic
packaged Mother Nature’s tongue in a box from the skin of a tree.
plant a word like a seed in hopes that a tree
will take root and spread like a fire
bridging the language of the natural and domestic
unifying branches and steel
together, broken horizons trace a mosaic
rainbow that flashes for a moment, then folds into black.
eyes closed, a black blink sings a wish, that a tree
may grow among a mosaic as vibrant as fire
that wood and steel play nice in both nature and in the domestic.
Trackbacks
- Sibling Rivalry: a sestina* « Anthems on Anthems
- National Poetry Month 2012: I Challenge You To A Sonnet Duel! « Anthems on Anthems
- POEM: I Challenge You To A Sonnet Duel! « Anthems on Anthems
- VIDEO: Plate of Food « Writing in a Tree
- BOOKS: The Great Black North « Writing in a Tree
- One Year Later: Sonnet Challenge | Writing in a Tree
Huh! I like the concept of a sestina, and I like the sestina you wrote :) I learned something new here. Thank you!
thanks, its an interesting challenge repeating the same word and giving it new meaning. if you write poetry, i’d love to read your sestina. thanks for visiting
I do write poetry, though I’m more comfortable writing prose (of a poetic sort). One of these days I’ll give a sestina a try.
and when you do, send me the link. Cheers
Whitney, I’m very proud of your sestina. The words just flow and each line is not punctuated by the word that concludes it. You succeeded in creating a poem, replete with sincerity and integrity.