Sestina
Below is the first draft of an assignment for a poetry class I'm taking. A sestina is a poem of seven stanzas. It requires the repetition of the first 6 ending words of the first 6 lines of the poem to be used at designated places through out the writing. It is quite a complicated formula and presents no small challenge. I won't bore you with a more in-depth explanation of the formula, and I'm not sure I could if I wanted. For those of you who are interested, here is a fairly brief explanation. I realize the poem is awkward and bungling at this point, but it is a product of the stringent form and guidelines. Hopefully it will become smoother over the next few days as I iron it out.
I want to live for things that matter,
No more moment-by-moment priorities
Or sudden lapses in better judgment.
I’ll trade a life time of straw-grasping
For this minutes hold on hope,
Standing on what does not change.
But down here you can buy a worldview for pocket change,
Cheaper if you say “whatever, it don’t matter.”
But it will short-sell you on hope
And give you a list of delinquent priorities.
In the end you are always left gasping, grasping
Shaking because there just might be a judgment.
I keep hoping for a place where judgment
Becomes disguised in a simple change.
No longer grasping,
But holding on to tangible matter.
New priorities
hope.
What breath is worth breathing without hope?
A soul gets tired of non-stop, mile-wide judgment
Feels the only recourse is the crack cocaine of instantaneous priorities.
Deep down you know it is just a placebo for change.
You fool, no matter,
Keep grasping
Hold tight now, no more grasping.
This is hope.
Don’t let those many failures matter.
Ignore their sirens cry of judgment.
Enact change,
Re-calibrate priorities.
Simple, basic priorities,
For better, bigger, and grander things I will be grasping.
Looking forward to change
As a sign of hope
Exercise a little better judgment.
These things matter.
Stand in judgment over priorities
Kneel while grasping gently at hope
Lay it all down, no matter the cost, exact change.
posted by Michael | 3:23 PM
3 Comments:
Tough guidelines without sounding too repetitive or choppy. Good job!
I enjoy how well you compose a spirit of emotion tangled with complexity--making it somewhat challenging to grasp while at the same time gripping the soul to its very core.
Painful, hopeful, and convicting!
Lovely...
Ah, the kind words of a friend: is there any greater balm? I look forward to the day we are re-birthed as mighty mountains in another world. Then we will be strong, and doubt will not become us.
Do underwater mountains count? I claim Mauna Kea in Hawaii... Biggest in the world, but few know of its presence. Only those that know it well can see under the surface ;-)Cheesy? Most definitely, but since Michael doesn't post very often no one really ever knows except for St. Helens and Mauna Kea.
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