2006-12-12 - 11:54 p.m.
Nya said the poem I wrote for her birthday last year was kind of a half-assed effort, with its lame AAAA rhyme scheme. She challenged me to use a far more difficult form this year: the sestina. I didn’t know anything about sestinas and I gamely agreed. Ouch. It turns out the sestina is probably the hardest type of poem to write. It involves using a set of six words at the end of lines (not necessarily the end of thoughts) in a different order in each of six stanzas and a closing three-line verse. Often, the meter is iambic pentameter and I’ve used that here.
It was really hard. I certainly didn’t bring any message or underlying theme across. It’s such a constrained form; I really felt like I was just fulfilling a grammar exercise, straining to fit words together to make it to the next mandatory end-word. If you can transcend these boundaries and get a sentiment across, you are a better poet than I (actually, you’re probably a better poet than I anyway). I’m told that a sign of a good sestina is that when it’s read aloud, listeners don’t notice that the same six words are repeated over and over. I think, in my case, I’d be lucky if listeners don’t mind that it’s tortured word salad. Anyway, here it is:
If you had known us years ago you’d laugh
to find that after all this time we’re back
together living in Chicago – fair
enough. Her clever mind’s so sharp and smart
and funny. It’s no wonder she inspires
my heart and soul. It’s really so much fun
with her around; her humor and her fun
demeanor leave a smile that stays. A laugh
brought on by her hilarity inspires
a man to be his best, to turn his back
on mediocrity. But it can smart
if you believe she feels you’re only fair
or poor or worse in your behavior. Fair
thee well to joy if that’s the case. No fun
can come from being just a schlub. It’s smart
to be your best in all you can. Don’t laugh
at what you might be. Never turn your back
on all the excellence that she inspires.
It thrills that her encouragement inspires
in me a drive to be my best. A fair
appraisal of how much she brings can back
the nation’s debt. See, we have so much fun
together that it almost hurts. We laugh
and play together; we would sure be smart
to do this always. She’s so fucking smart
it makes me freakin’ piss. Her wit inspires
my heart to leap with boundless joy and laugh
til I turn blue. With her, life’s like a fair
or carnival or circus, packed with fun
and games. It’s true we knew each other back
when we were kids. Never do we look back
and pine though. She’s so pretty, funny, smart,
and sexy now, this moment! Life is fun
with her beside me, now and always. Laugh
away, but I feel like I’m winning. Fair
and sunny is the state that she inspires.
Now let me go back home, where she inspires
my mind to be smart, sharp, and keen. So fair
her face and such fun when she makes me laugh.
I see now that I used “fair” for “fare” in the third stanza. Would that that were the only problem…
© 2006 Geoff Gladstone
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