Slow Burn
sestina synthetica by Tasneem Kagalwalla, Kristofer Mac Cormaic, Kunal Duggal, BHD, Alexainie, Vince, and sestina master Tamyka Bell
You didn’t fit the bill, you were far from eligible
you appeared one midsummer’s day, only to disappear
the very next day. Setting love ablaze, a forest fire
within I remain a collection of our memories — a recollection
blazing embers alive in every fragment of every thought
you live inside. You burn, bruise, enthuse. You remain, my muse.
Stop, listen to your street music muse
Dancing streetlight with clicking shoes, listen to what makes you eligible
To get lost in thought
before the moment disappears.
Leaving a few lines of memory for recollection
which feeds inspired fire.
An inextinguishable fire
Set ablaze by you, my muse
And when you’re not here, I’m guided by the recollection
of those initial sparks, wondering how was I ever eligible?
For an effect that can’t disappear
For our moments, for our talks, and for your thoughts.
Raining again — thoughts
an illusion suffused with fire.
Dance with dukkha — disappear.
Master mudita, lay upon me muse,
may your dana make me eligible
in this life, an unmistakable recollection.
Behind sleeping eyes always just beyond my reach, a recollection
Of the rise and fall of your chest; my sweet dreams hold the thought:
The crinkle of a smile, fingers interlocked…you only negligibly eligible
And me, alight with your touch, sparks igniting, catching fire
Your fingertips sear my skin; the mark of my muse,
Proof of our collision. You, here but to imprint on my heart and disappear…
In the absence of the ticking you disappear,
my senses regrouped, my heartbeat in recollection.
The sands stopped dropping, upheld timely muse;
single spaced into a state undone of thought,
bone and skin bare, to be ignited by your inside fire.
Apex break even, genuine of the eligible.
My light fades, soon to disappear. Am I now eligible
to join you, in recollection of our undiminished fire?
Burn me once more, sweet muse, if only in thought.
This sestina was just one of several in a collaborative project on Chalkboard. Read all about it:
These stanzas were also individually published by their authors:
- Muse by Tasneem Kagalwalla
- Muse on the Street by Kristofer Mac Cormaic
- Our Fire by Kunal Duggal
- Dhamma of the Muse by BHD
- Into Thin Air by Alexainie
- Abeyance Apogee by Vince
- Eternal Flame by Tamyka Bell
