Recovery (a sestina)
—-
My mouth is dry and filled with taste of ash
I look inside and feel an inside drought
Recall the sound of church bells chiming five
You said, I was to blame, and not your fault
I never thought, that it was very fair
But you just left, and dumped me in a ditch
—-
I tried to rise, or crawl, out of my ditch
The land around was burned, a plain of ash
Far away I hear the cheers from distant fair
But here I am in a deserted drought
Alone I see across dividing fault
The world, a happy place, a five by five
—
If it’s weekdays I’m fine from nine to five
Home I try to get my rest, It’s still a ditch
In every trace of luck, I find a fault
I see, in maed, not flowers, only ash
Your flowers, they are left to die in drought
I’m feeling that revenge will make it fair
—
I start to follow you around the fair
I see you laugh with friends, there after five
The friends that I called mine, I’m left with drought
And then later, I return and hide in ditch
Your letters I have burned but kept the ash
I never see myself, this is your fault
—-
I scheme for vengeance, but I see my fault
And grasp that you were right, that I’m unfair
I’m glad to burn my plans, and flush the ash
Beyond my daily work, I see a home at five
I clean and scrub, and decorate my ditch
And then at weekend, plans for stop of drought
—
A verdant world of green that’s lacking drought
I’ve left my hiding, crossed dividing fault
And never more, I will be left in ditch
I’ve promised, I’ll be treating people fair
And when you meet me, you will see, high five
But, when it comes to trust, I still see ash
—
Cleared is now my ditch, I do attend the fair
There isn’t any drought, at this side of the fault
But still today at five, I have a taste of ash
—–
The key words in this sestina comes from the #ohj word of today game. Between June 10 and June 16 2012. It is my first ever sestina.
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Hey, sorry it took me so long to get to read this. It’s fantastic! Sestinas are SO tricky, but I love how you used the repeating words to show the mental change of the narrator. Also, I don’t think the repitition is too appearent, and I love, love, love the line “Your letters I have burned but kept the ash.” Very impressive!
Time is really no bother.
I had been working on this a while, and I am so happy for feed-back.
I also tried to keep it iambic, which was a little tricky.
Thanks a lot for the feedback.
Wow! You nailed it first time Björn! Wonderful story, beautiful words. Well done. You’ve inspired me to go back and finish my first attempt.
Thank you, means a lot coming from you. It was an interisting challenge, thank you for that.
Great job on your sestina. They are so hard to do, and yours just flows.
Thank you Karen. Somehow, I never struggled writing it. I am not sure I would be able to redo it.
Reblogged this on Björn Rudbergs writings.
Bravo, my friend! for choosing the strict pentameter form of this! As I’m fond of writing, in essence:
More form; more pressure
More pressure; more diamonds.
Have you ever tried a sestina???
I have not yet, although I think I may now.
I must think of a way to make the form more difficult!
(because I’ll never get another chance to take advantage of “beginner’s luck!”)
so will you see my tweets when I type @brudberg
Yes I will. Often faster than here. Also I can recommend a couple of WOTD prompts. like #lqw #ohj #liblit #haikuchallenge…. a lot of good short poetry here, but also a lot of good humor.
“And grasp that you WHERE right, that I’m unfair”
is that a typographical error for “were?”
Thank you, of course it is… Typos not caught by spellchecker are the worst.