The tip of a flower petal is the sun
beginning a sum, the vestigial soul
woven to singularity by night love
tenderness and happenstance’s numberless
loveliness; moon’s kingdom, reflected justice
and star flesh, earth, its magical love, chaos.
The ground beneath us flows, bestows, is chaos
elemental we long to escape when sun’s
passage darkens this mysterious justice
light and its joyous heart reflect us, our soul,
yet perceive in this perfection numberless
marvels, swizzled wizard tongues, instead of love.
Many of these we fear, tremble in bedded love
content to hide from portending chaotic
tigers behind bloodened bent grass, numberless,
creep nights beneath pond glown moonlit rays the sun
gleams, but melancholy is the coward’s soul
for earth’s magic tender loves are truly just.
Fecund, the ground below, the whole of justice
its numbered unknowns fragrant full of known love
weaving deeply the human skein to its soul.
Why will we not be fulfilled within chaos,
its tender cruiser veins: land, river, the sun’s
diamondic spires through our hearts’ numberless
frills, flowers enticing our souls’ numberless
fire shadow memories, wombs pink glown justice,
ground beneath maypoles waiting upon the sun,
cruiser cloud brim full, colorful, pushing love
enticing far deep, pinkened, bursting chaos,
flower stamens fecund of earth fluids — souls.
The still point of all turning worlds, is the soul.
Incomplete, finite, simple, we, numberless,
our flight, sped light fancies love chaotically,
are the processes we are made by, justice
of elements, earth, wind, fire, we, pollen, love
within the great wild pony dance of the sun.
The soul our joyous heart, we children of sun,
moon, we numberless reflection, its justice.
How can we not love, born such tender chaos?
Author notes
The word 'diamondic' is a word i invented ... so just go with it, okay? I like it, its mine and that's all there is to it. ))oO)) so there.
The final stanza is correct according to The New Book of Forms by Lewis Turco which allows the rhyme words to appear anywhere in the final three lines as long as each line ends with the correct one.
This is a birthday present to cricketjeff from a dedicated free verser who loves cinquains, Sestinas, Opera, Baroque Music, Shakespeare, John Donne, Rimbaud, Sylvia Plath, and Lorca, among others, but most of all turtles and cats.
Happy Birthday, sir.
Ur humble and most devoted
Moqui
In a list
A contest entry
- The Box by cricketjeff.
550 points, ended July 30, 2008, 20 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Moving and the serene feel accumulates beautifully.
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Until I read this, I didn't actually know what a sestina was... but having done a little research, my hat goes off to you! Right now, my brain is inspired by this piece and wanting to have a go at this style...
Thank you for teaching me my "something new" for today! This was a wonderful read, well crafted in a VERY specific style!
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i tried doing one of these once and failed miserably. it is buried somewhere in the pages here and for the love of all humanity i am so thankful i cannot find it. your write is amazing!!! it speaks so eloquently. what a birthday present!!! thank you for sharing this with me today and i am looking forward to more from you in the near future. congratulations on the bronze trophy that you have earned with this write. viyanna rosemarie
ps--i like your word, diamondic. sounds wonderful!!!
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diamondic - well there are new words being created all the time, language is forever changing so... a good poem, this is a great form and you have done it well, aye to the soul, it spins us all dizzy.
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Your final line is the penultimate in beautiful foundations, Beloved. You are well-versed in describing what is "soul". This is a glorious example of a sestina, a form which I am not very familiar with, but believe I will be, given your mastery of the form. I am only surprised at your "only" getting a bronze, rather than the gold this magnificent penning deserves. For you to have penned such a tour-de-force for someone's birthday is such a grand gesture on your part, Danny. Having you write poetry for me is better than ambrosia, better than sherbet...even if you add in the French silk chocolate ice cream, too. 
I love you, Mister. 
♥ 
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I can't believe I gave a prize to a bloody sestina!!!
This one is superb though, they are not my cup of tea but if an ancient formal style of poetry well written isn't in the box then what is!
Great stuff and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get to the comments.
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ty sir. I am glad you enjoyed this sestina.
... it is too bad you don't like them, but, they can written with a modern syntax, and when done well begin to rhyme all over the place (sort of an accumulation type of deal) ... I like them for their complexity and annoying rhyme scheme requirements ... they force me to think in a non free verser sort of way .. and I like the way they look, and I don't like they way that nobody reads them when I post them 
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ah well, thank you for being open minded ... and thank you for enjoying it ... it is a lonesome road .. being a sestinateer
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