Hi Anne,
This seemed like a fun drill so I thought I'd join in. It isn't my first sestina, but I think it's one of the only ones I didn't write while drunk in a bar or at a party. Thanks for posting this. Hope you had as much fun as I did.
I thought when you were gone my peace was made,
But now your empty pillow mocks my joy.
I picture you asleep, an earthly angel,
Who only lacks the wings to bring him home.
I would be willing to forgive all wrongs,
If only I could trust you to be kind.
The other day you smiled, you were so kind
I thought that with you back, our peace was made,
But then you blew me off, revived dead wrongs,
And resurrected sorrow to kill joy.
So now, though I am drawn, I can’t go home
To him who one time seemed to be an angel.
Perhaps, although unkind, you are an angel,
But I’d prefer a man, if he were kind.
For years you reassured me you’d come home,
But still you strayed. And what home can be made
Out of an empty house, built without joy
And with a cornerstone made up of wrongs?
Let us forgive the past, forget all wrongs.
Let us be true. I’ll guard you like an angel
Guards sleeping children, and fills their dreams with joy
So they may dream of peace. Let us be kind
And let us claim a future newly made
To stand forever as an earthly home.
But still you stay away. Forget the home,
Forget the dreams we had. Remember wrongs.
Remember in the solitude you made
That love is difficult. I’m not an angel
And I can’t save you, though I would be kind.
So let us stay alone and forget joy.
Why does your voice still fill me with such joy?
Why, when I hear it, do I feel at home?
Leave me alone, if you wish to be kind.
‘Cos running hot and cold adds to the wrongs.
But still, though you are cruel, you are my angel
And so I’ll say to you whose absence made
All of the joy we felt transform to wrongs.
But if I could go home and find my angel
Pretending to be kind, my peace were made.
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