This was submitted for my Creative Writing class and it went over well so I decided to post it here. Please enjoy.
INFO TO KNOW - A sestina is poetic form based on sixes. There are six lines per stanza, with six stanzas, and the end words of the first stanza are repeated as the end words for each stanza. It follows a particular pattern of: 123456 - 615243 - 364125 - 532614 - 451362 - 246531. It concludes with an envoy which is a three line stanza and repeats all six end words in another particular pattern: 25 - 43 - 61. The end words do not have to rhyme. My poem doesn't have a true envoy to form, but it works.
Sestina for a Literate Dog
I don't think either of us tried to stop this from spiraling out of control.
You knock and I rush, desperate to open the door for you
though I'm surprised you knocked at all as I stare at your boots through my hair.
It's falling in my face again, hiding my eyes, even as I grab your card
-shaped locket and pull your lips down to mine, tasting heat.
You are cold and stiff, pulling back to growl and call me a dog
But I'd rather spend a lifetime with you trying to break your unshakeable dog
-ma that I'm worthless and take pleasure in being the one to break your control
over your emotions. I've got my hands pressed against your chest, heart pulsing heat
through your body, I know you are not ice and I know you
are not heartless even as you pull my hands away from your card
-shaped locket, and drag them up until they are buried in chestnut hair.
Slowly, your hands fall away from mine and you mumble about how I need a hair
-cut or a hairbrush, which would be a new trick for this old dog
to learn. I pull you into my room, stepping over my fallen cards
and clothes, knees hitting my bed and you smother me with your dominate control
-freak tendencies to be on top but I am talking about you
after all, so I can't complain. I simply revel in the burning heat
that comes from your body pressing into mine, this tryst made all the better in this freak heat
-wave in winter. Your hands are pulling and everywhere, running through the thin hair
on my chest with reverence. I have never given myself to anyone but you
for this reason alone even if you've called me a mutt, a beast, a no-good dog
But you're my only master, the only one I've ever freely given control
of my heart and body and soul. You pull back and I grab your card
-shaped locket and gently tug it over your head. I toss it towards the card
table by the bed, tugging at your shirt and pressing our sweaty, heat
-ed chests together again. I can feel you tremble as the need to command and control
weakens, leaving only my icy-eyed prince with thick chestnut hair.
I know that the last thing on your lips will be another dog
insult before you say my name and I can only stare at you
and feel the tears well in my eyes as I give my everything to only you,
knowing its my picture and your brother's hidden away in your card
-shaped locket and there will be more insults tomorrow, but I'm a loyal dog
and I'll always heed my master. I kiss you and hold you even when the heat
begins to fade and sweat is dripping, matting my thick blond hair
to my forehead and I can see you regain the reins of control.
You pause before you leave, ruffling my hair and grabbing your card
-shaped locket from the floor, and I can feel the heat between us again
as you smile with your eyes, in control of your emotions to the last, and call me your dog.