Sestina for Starchildren
I was born a restless child:
A child of unsettled starlight
molded in my mothers image
and birthed by her ambition,
I became a crux and crucible;
an intersect of my father’s intellect
an aspect of an all knowing architect’s intellect
a birthright to reconcile—careless grace, child
to find something not so reducible; a creative, contrary crucible
Not exactly right, not exactly able to cite, but in my palm, starlight
again and again, I am an acolyte of ambition:
of privilege and spillage, an unyielding image
innate in my impatience, obsessed became my image
To me, my identity, and most of all my intellect
Regard adherence like an adhesive, for much like ambition
it comes quickly, and grows up quicker, child
Sing a song, starlight
Something suitable for my beautiful, juvenile crucible.
kaleidoscope within the crested crucible,
dreams unto alchemy into grimace and to image
Guiding me forward, ever the curious child.
Intwine imagination and aspiration into intellect
and whatnot. Want not, child
Out of reach, as if someone could teach ambition
Find solace and silence in this rendition of ambition
Make me a critic; make me a crime. Make me a crucible:
a charity, a challenge, a child.
What’s the difference? Impatient, infantile image
undeserved of anything direct, I reject my intellect
I reject my adherence. I reject the spotlight of starlight
Greatness does not stem from starlight,
nor even talent. Greatness is the aftermath of ambition
Make yourself great. Gather your will. Garner your intellect.
Become something, someone suitable—a new immutable crucible
Build yourself a lineage, a skilled image
make something of the stars in the sky, child
Sestina for starlight,
emerge from the crucible
inflamed in ambition—
an afterimage of my mother’s image
I am more than my intellect,
more than a child
10 thoughts on "Sestina for Starchildren"
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I will never write a sestina ever again
Oh, no! See comment that follows.
I hate sestinas
I love the boldness of writing in this form. It seems quite challenging, but despite that, I think you did a wonderful job. The internal rhyme (which I don’t think is required by a sestina) was a brilliant touch.
I like how you start this off with a sense of wonder and possibility also adding in personal history and lineage. There’s so much rebellion and nonconformity in dealing with the tension between ambition and creativity, I feel like it just builds and builds along with some incredible word play! I really appreciate all of the effort you put into this and it’s one of my favorite poems so far this year, thank you!
I agree with Philip.
And will also say
I have said at some point about every form that I ever tried to use. ” never again ” 🙂 great work with this one.
I love it when you play with form. No matter how strict the rules are it’s always uniquely you
One of my favorite forms. Very difficult to execute. This one, well done!
I absolutely love the rhyming in this! It gives the poem such a good flow. When it is read aloud, you can also feel the shift in tone because of the rhyming. Very great work!
Molded in my mother’s image and birthed by her ambition- says so much! Beautiful!