I'll Sing

first attempt at a Sestina.

When you left, you took my breath with you

The longest hour and a lifetime away from home.

And now my lungs are tired and as dry as stone.

So I sit silent and alone, rocking the ruins of my heart to sleep.

From their shining diamond mouths like tears they sing,

And it is the most heart wrenching song you’ll ever hear.

 

If by chance the melody followed the air so you could hear

You wouldn’t care; the sound of death wouldn’t even phase you.

Apathy has sewn your mouth closed, never again will you sing

Never again will your heart allow yourself to call another home.

All you’ll know is loneliness, when you wake, when you sleep

You’ll be alone, you and your heart of stone.

 

Do you remember, when I would wake to the tapping of a stone

On my bedroom window? That was before you refused to hear

The world out; that was before you’d crawl in bed and sleep

Blocking out the cries and laughs that make up the world around you.

When the moon was stretching over the sky you’d find me at home

And together, in perfect harmony with the earth, we would sing.

 

But now you refuse to listen, you refuse to sing.

The world is too much for you; you think it’s only as cold as stone.

You don’t understand the precious balance upon which we find our home.

Negative, ugly things, that made your heart hurt was all you could hear.

So you gave up, shut yourself up, and refused to let anyone near you.

That is why your dreams are painted in pain and anguish when you sleep.

 

I tried to calm your dreams, to let you breathe easy in sleep

But you denied my deepest attempts, refused to listen to me sing.

And that is why, when you left, even though my heart broke, I let you.

You became unreachable in your self-imposed silence, as stubborn as stone.

That is when my heart began to cry out the song you wouldn’t hear

The song that begged you to find yourself back to my arms, at home.

 

For the sake of my heart, I wish you would come home

No matter how long I rock the broken pieces it can’t�" it won’t sleep

In time I’ll learn another way to reason with it so it will hear;

I’ll tell it you’re not the only reason to live, there are many other songs to sing.

Already my lungs are learning to breathe again, resurrecting from stone.

So, one day my heart will be whole, my lungs alive, and they will forget you.

 

I’ll find myself at home, and I’ll sing.

And while you sleep on your bed of stone,

You will weep as you hear me breathe without you.

Author's Note

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