[stylist] Sharing my earliest sestina House of Cards

[Mary-Jo Lord]

I love it!  I've written three, and they have all been time consuming to
write, but I have a lot of satisfaction when I finally finish them.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of KajunCutie926 at aol.com
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 6:14 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Sharing my earliest sestina House of Cards

With all the talk of Sestina's today I wanted to share with my first attempt
written about 8 years ago.  At the time this so taxed my brain and  I wasn't
sure I would ever attempt another but of course, I did.  I have attached it
as well. I do hope you enjoy this very feeble attempt.

House Of Cards
(sestina)
 
Once upon another time she lived
In a fragile house of cards.  She  knew
Only that she was sheltered, never heard The winds of change that  silently
Blew against the coated-paper walls Of her blissful existence,  until it
crumpled.
 
She found herself alone amid the crumpled Ruins of the life she had  known,
no longer lived Behind the sanctity of sacred walls
Which kept its  secrets.   Innocence knew
It would die in shame, silently
Lying in  the ruins of her being. Unheard.
 
The Knave had claimed he heard
No denial or admonition and she  crumpled, Allowing the lifeless cards to
fall silently
One by one.   In darkness lived 
The Kings and Queens.  Only Innocence knew Evil  had shattered the paper
walls.
 
She picked through discarded walls
Searching for treasured Innocence but  heard Only silence.  Laughter, she
knew, Lay buried in the life now crumpled And yet she survived.  She  lived
To carry the secrets within her silently.
 
And time, in its fashion, ticked silently Within her soul.  She  woke one
day to find walls Of Faith where debris once lived.
Was that the  whisper of promise heard
>From beneath the dreams crumpled?
Could she  regain the life she once knew?
 
Again, time flexed its knowing muscle for it knew That some things must  be
borne silently And without reprieve.  The life lost in the  crumpled Ruins
would not return to thrive within the walls Of yesterday.  Truth's hammer
clearly heard As it rang through dreams not  lived.
 
And in her soul she knew, that no longer would walls Stand by silently,
ignoring the whispers heard While the house crumpled, burying what once
lived.
 

C March 2004