A door has been opened within my heart.
It leads to a cavern filled with words.
Where did you come from, you silly muse,
Who looks at rocks and trees and makes them sing,
Who creates landscapes and lives with stroke of pen?
Where do they come from all these pictures you paint?
You take your brush dipped in colorful paint;
Deep emotions and feelings straight from the heart,
They flow out in ink from the tip of your pen.
Each line has meter and rhythm that sings
With perfect harmony of musical words.
How do you do this, my silly muse?
Decades lived peacefully; no disturbance of muse.
No pictures with poetry did I paint;
No rhyme or meter, forming line that sings.
Kept thoughts to myself, locked in my heart.
Vocabulary limited to simple words;
No need to express with writings of pen.
Now everywhere I go, I carry pad and pen.
What HAVE you done to me, my silly muse!
I read a thesaurus and feed on words.
Each day in time I feel I must paint
The thoughts and feelings deep from my heart.
As I write my spirit soars-- it sings!
A mountain stream no longer gurgles, it sings,
As sounds take on voice from the ink in my pen.
I close my eyes to hear with my heart
And allow your guidance, my delightful muse.
Showing me details in my scene to paint
With colors and sounds all crafted with words.
Now I’m in love with these silly old words,
As I search for a rhythm and meter that sings.
A new picture each day I’m happy to paint;
Both beauty and pain, are drawn with my pen.
What did I do without you, oh, delightful muse?
Your creative flow has set free my heart.
So here I paint again with words;
My song of heart on paper now sings
By the graceful pen of my humble muse.
Author notes
My first try at a Sestina form
The form may be studied here:
http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sestina.htm
Fresh write link for Getting to Know You contest:
http://allpoetry.com/poem/5708603
In a list
A contest entry
- Hello, it's good to meet you. by Mister Mattia.
1300 points, ended September 27, 18 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Oh No! Oh YES!!! SESTINA CONTEST by SteveS.
3500 points, ended September 17, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Form Poetry by KnightOfTheRose.
700 points, ended October 29, 69 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Suggestions welcome from those who know Sestina form
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
-
I've never written a sestina, I've always wanted to try. I am very impressed with this
Thank you for taking the time to enter. Excellent work and best of luck to you in my contest.
-Steve- -
I've never written a sestina, though I know the form, and I can only bow to those who are brave enough to try it. . .
for your first try, this is excellent! I like how you address her as your "silly muse" - I too have a silly muse. . . 
I did think that you could loosen up the flow a little - it seemed a bit forced in parts, to me. . .but really, this is good! I'm impressed, poet. Good luck in the contest 
♠ Lady Elinor
-
The envoi here (concluding tercet) is spot on...really ties everything together well. Your tempo is quite nice and the flow with endwords is good. The line "Each line has meter and rhythm that sings", "No rhyme or meter, forming line that sings" and "As I search for a rhythm and meter that sings" are much too similar thoughts. That is really the quest to rediscover the end words in creative ways, which is so hard when used over and over, but that's the challenge here. I do value this poem a bunch and I think, by and large, is a great piece of poetry.
-
-
Thank you for your comments and for offering the challenge to a form I had not known of before. I enjoyed the challenge and will certainly attempt it again and keep your notations in mind.
-
-
had to read your entry in this sestina contest... I think they are as hard to read as they are to write...! I like you background...
so here you are talking to your muse... you kind of painted a life story here... a quiet life, and now the sudden urge to paint pictures with words issuing from the heart... (and I did like your entry into my rambling contest, a good example of those heart-words, although you did not paint a static landscape...! )
and so, once the pen is loosed, we find it roams where it will...
-
Really clever!
-
Fantastic!!
This is the greatest ode to inspiration Ive ever read, great imagery, beautifully structures, and a very profound topic...thanks so much for sharing!!
-
This has such a light, joyful quality. The meter consistency is perfect. I especially liked, "What did I do without you, oh, delightful muse? Your creative flow has set free my heart." Good luck in the contest. Your piece is great.
Sincerely,
Camille Morin
Adding your comment:
1 - 8 of 8
