Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Failed Sestina

Okay, so here is my first ever attempt at a Sestina... a complete failure in terms of subject, but the fact that I actually was able to complete one of these is pretty spectacular. So, you might be asking...what is a sestina.

Here is what a sestina is: 6 stanzas with 6 lines each, and a final stanza with 3 lines (Yes, that is 39 lines!) The last words of each line is very important as they are repeated (in a certain order) throughout the poem.

So it looks like this:
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
Line 6

THEN you use the last word of each line to complete the other stanzas... in this order (no you don't get to randomly pick the order...which was my very first few stanzas before I realized any better and had to go back and fix them... changing the poem entirely):
6 1 5 2 4 3
3 6 4 1 2 5
5 3 2 6 1 4
4 5 1 3 6 2
2 4 6 5 3 1

Last stanza has 3 lines, and each line has two each of the last words like this:
6 2
1 4
5 3

Soooo think you could do it?

24 Hours, A Day of Life

Yellow bulbs light the office room,
False brightness for no windows.
Tired eyes from the computer’s face
Close them, a moment to day dream.
Eight to five, work goes on and on,
Stealing away time, sand of my life
_______________________________________
Going home, start my second life
Open the door to the chaotic living room
Sigh a moment, the cleaning goes on
Pick up, dust, vacuum, wash the window
And for a second, think of past dreams
The reflection in the window a wistful face
_______________________________________
Two pairs of eyes peer from happy faces
These are my children, small loves of my life
In them I see a new beginning and dream
The dark draws near, put them in their rooms
Close their purple curtains, shut the window
Not forgetting to turn their flower night light on
_______________________________________
Get ready for the next day, put my night gown on
Brush my teeth and hair, wash my face
Lock all the doors, check all the windows
Take a deep breath, at the end of day life
Walk down the hallway to my bed room
Turn off the light, and begin to softly dream
_______________________________________
This is a special time, a time to dream
Forget the stress and money, my mind wanders on
White knight, happy times, palatial rooms
Long hair, perfect body, beautiful face
Everything works out in the end, fantasy life
Nothing but blue skies seen outside the window
_______________________________________
As I turn off the alarm and look out the window
Time to get up, forget sleeping and dreams
Get out of bed, and start again to get ready for life
Wipe the sleep out of my eyes, turn the light on
Look for today’s clothes, put makeup on my face
Time to get back to work, I head out of my room
_______________________________________
Leave the home life, one last look through the window
The rooms all filled with my hopes and my dreams,
Put a work smile on, one last look, wishfulness on my face

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