Down the street sings a harmony
“The ice-cream man!” cries Isabella
As she puts her dust colored child-
Like feet on her tricycle. A storm
Sits in the sky. It will run past
This town of streetlamps and quiet.
Years later, in-between all of the quiet
College library shelves, there lofts a harmony
Of wooden table carved graffiti past.
And there, reading, sits Isabella
A book about paradise, the mad ones, and storms
Before drifting away like a child.
Now older, she fears the child
That stands inside of her quite
Lovely forming life, a storm
Built to disrupt harmony.
And so sighs Isabella;
A song about everything past
Brings the images of the past
Which mirror-reflects as a small child
Who hears the cry of Isabella.
Through the urban quiet
A mother’s harmony
Calls her in from the storm.
When the girl enters, storms
Around the house, past
Her mother, the dis-harmony
Of a disappointed child
Breaks the broken-heart and quiet
Ears of Isabella.
Then walks Isabella
To break the tantrum storm
Of a girl, silent, quiet
Fuming, but mother walking past
Arms around her quells the child,
The only-ever-harmony.
Is a bell a harmony
A chime in the quiet of the past
A storm within a child?
Alright, sorry about my prolonged absence. This class is taking up most of my time, and work is taking up the rest. As I hinted earlier, this poem isn’t even a new one: I wrote it during the same time, and for the same college class, as most of my other form-ish poems. It’s the last holdout, I think; at least, it’s the last publishable one. And that’s because, until now, I really didn’t like it.
That’s my own fault. I originally tried to make this poem a normal sestina, with all of the words repeating while also keeping all of the lines of similar length. It’s like trying to write an essay underwater; it’s too much of a struggle with no real payoff.
So, I’ve spent the last day or so rewriting this to make it work. I think I did okay. It’s at least readable now. I added a couple of book references as well, try to spot them (Google might help; they’re a bit obscure). You know, that’s something I’ve always found hilarious. In film, you aren’t supposed to heavily reference or show a better movie in your movie. In poetry? That’s just intertextuality!
Anyway, sestinas are difficult to write, and they confine you in too specific of a way for you to have any fun. At least, that’s my experience with this poem. I’d avoid using it unless you really like confining forms or you really want a challenge.
What else? I’m halfway finished with this spanish course, so I’ll try to get content running at a smoother pace in the meantime. After that, well… let’s just say that I have some plans for the next two and a half months. That’s all!