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Breaking over her like the waves of the ocean --------------------1
Rising in her breast like an undulating hill. --------------------------2
Though it had no form, only mist and shadow ---------------------3
Her heart knew its certainty like granite stone ---------------------4
With this knowledge she felt her soul free --------------------------5
There was no denying her love for this man. -----------------------6


Her body called out to this man -----------------------------------------6
Making love to the rhythm of the ocean ------------------------------1
Together they became one, floating free. ----------------------------5
Making love nestled in sweet grasses on the hill, -------------------2
Like children they carved initials on a stone, ------------------------4
Holding each other tenderly as day became shadow. -------------3


From somewhere into her heart came a shadow. -----------------3
There were misty questions concerning this man. -----------------6
Her heart felt the uncertainty like a stone, --------------------------4
Her feelings as turbulent as the ocean, ------------------------------1
As she stood in the wildflowers on the hill, -------------------------2
A coldness she could not shake free. -------------------------------5


She loved to watch the birds fly free ----------------------------------5
Thinking of herself in their shadow. -----------------------------------3
Arms outstretched standing alone on top the hill -----------------------2
Her heart told her she needed no man. -------------------------------6
Confusion crashed like waves on the ocean, -----------------------1
Her finger traced their names on the stone. -------------------------4


A promise had not been written in stone. ---------------------------4
They both agreed that they were free. -------------------------------5
Much like the ebbing tide of the ocean, -------------------------------1
Not unlike a cloud's passing shadow. --------------------------------3
He was a man like any other man, -----------------------------------6
Changing like the seasons on the hill ---------------------------------2


She enjoyed watching the sunrise on the hill. ----------------------2
It was not that her heart was cold as a stone ---------------------4
Or that she bore ill feelings toward any man, -----------------------6
Only that she loved the feeling of being free. ------------------------5
Love was no more than a vaporous shadow, ----------------------3
Ebbing like the waves on the ocean. ----------------------------------1


A hill stands firm and unmoving even though a river flows through it free.
And no matter how large the stone it can not hold down a shadow
And as is true with fish, this man was one of many in the ocean.




NO BOLDING OR NUMBERING OF FINAL RHYMES (mine was just to show the pattern)
NO USE OF COLOR
NO CENTERING
NO TOPIARY CRAP, THIS AIN'T A JAPANESE/ENGLISH GARDEN

I'm at it again, just not happy with the status quo so I've come up with my own version the sestina form called TBellestina (get it--huh-huh ) featuring two opposite emotions. The first two stanzas use the first emotion, the middle two stanzas transition to the next emotion, and the final two stanzas using the second emotion. The idea is to give the illusion of the speaker experiencing a change of mind or attitude: ex. she starts out in love then becomes apathetic, he starts out feeling despair but ends hopeful. You may use any combination but they must not be similar: ex. joy/love, hate/anger, etc.

The form: a poem consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. It makes no use of a refrain. This form is unrhymed, the effect of rhyme being taken over by a fixed pattern of end-words which demands that these end-words in each stanza be the same (no gerunds, change of tense, plurals, slant rhymes), though arranged in a different sequence each time. If we take 1-2-3-5-6 to represent the end-words of the first stanza, then the first line of the second stanza must end with 6 (the last end-word used in the preceding stanza), the second with 1, the third with 5, the fourth with 2, the fifth with 4, the sixth with 3--and so to the next stanza. The pattern for this one is: 1-2-3-4-5-6; 6-1-5-2-4-3; 3-6-4-1-2-5, 532614, 451362, 246531. The envoi, or conclusion, of three lines must use as end-words 5-3-1, these being the final end-words, in the same sequence, of the sixth stanza; however, you must exercise even greater ingenuity than all this, since buried in each line of the envoy must appear the other three end-words, 2-4-6.






If you're feeling a little bit like all the ink is running out of every single pen you own, it might be time to go pen shopping. Buy a whole bunch of your favorite kind of pen. There! You've solved the problem. If you still can't seem to get anything written down, maybe it's not the pen that's the problem.

SLAM!  (18+) Spring 2006 SLAM! - Congrats to the winners - see you all next time! #554585 by Cappucine