Art: “Un Coup de Dés Jamais N’Abolira Le Hasard” by Nelly Sanchez
Sestina: Words to the Unwise
(Words in Play)
We seek within quotidian lives a strain
of thoughts, of dreams, of wishes in a well
to satisfy our lust for sagas long
to which we cling, to which we hold to fast
each part a role within a self-writ play
at times a truth, more often merely art
For when I use the phrase — but “merely art”
it’s truth we stretch – gainst truth is where we strain
and words the swords we juggle —with which we play
we tell ourselves we do this well, so well
speeding through illusions — quick —not fast
We come up short from musing over long
We yearn, we pine, we ache, we sorely long
with coyness, — the ruses yclept art
refraining from full words — from words we fast
and sift through syllables — through syllables we strain
hoping to be left with what ‘plays’ well
Caprice and Artifice — stars in our play
As you cavort with verbs and nouns in play
and tat them into forms too brief to long
1 notice in your glance a tear doth well
perhaps from seeing who thou wert – and who thou art
or hearing melodies forgotten, but whose strain
immures us in a tempo – loose and fast
All thought translates to sound – each clinging fast
to echoes — no — reflections’ inter-play
and words to whispers whittle ‘til we strain
to hear if not to listen in long
distance between verity and art
Images not wishes sate this well
I hear you mutter, “All will turn out well,”
as every other word is turning fast
into a spin where craft is also art
contrived into Act III Scene ii. Your play
lacks meaning but has definition long
presumed to parse your cant – strain by strain by strain
And all that written here’s – to sift — to strain
through the seine of sound — the word-wright’s art
What remains takes us up short — and long
Carol Davis Koss 9/3/2020 – Finished 9:30 PM
(This sestina was written in about two hours)
About the author:
By birth a New Yorker, Carol Davis Koss lived in Oklahoma City for over forty years, and now resides in Sacramento. She has taught English, Creative Writing, and Remedial Reading from middle school through college, in venues that range from wealthy suburbs to the South Bronx; from churches to prisons. She is the author of Chapter and Verse (1997), Camera Obscura (2001 Oklahoma Book Award finalist), and Painted Full of Tongues (2002). Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including Best Minds, Best of MAP (Map of Austin Poetry), Bomb: A Collection of Poetry by Oklahoma Poets, Long Islander Newspaper: Walt’s Corner, Poems for the New Decade, Broomweed, Nimrod, Art Focus Oklahoma, Cross Timbers, and Elegant Rage: A Poetic Tribute to Woody Guthrie. A graduate of the City College of New York, she has a Master’s in English from Purdue University, and has done post master’s work at Teachers College (Columbia University) and the University of Oklahoma. She currently serves on IAO’s poetry committee.
In the artist’s words:
Nelly Sanchez is a French artist. For almost 15 years, she has been cutting and pasting from magazines and flyers. She has been creating a colorful and feminine universe, scattered red lips and arcs of circle. Often humorously, she explores gender stereotypes, plays with symbols. Each collage tells a story the viewer must imagine.