Hour Sixteen

Write a sestina! A sestina is a poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi.
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I came in the back of the line, always Last;

They thought they were going the right way, only I came Home.

I will see them again before long, in our final Grave–

We will shake hands and take our kiss from Death.

Because after all, we did what we meant to in Life,

We came in through nothingness and again were Born.

 

In us every galaxy of the cosmos was Born,

the light from those pulsars will always Last,

even after our eyes rot away in Death.

it’s not that bad at all, the shelter of a Grave,

Always searching for a place to rest, and finally finding Home.

A struggle no longer at the end of Life.

 

Wickedness absolved and sins sanctified through Life.

when angels and demons crept onto our shoulders to be Born.

as if the light from heaven would peak through the clouds at Last,

we eagerly await the gentle grace of transient Death.

Jesus holds my hand walking me to the Grave;

I’ll follow no one, because only I know my way to my Home.

 

In between my eyes, deep in my mind, that is where I find Home.

Pity be all those lost and searching never finding True Life,

Samsara will wrap them back around, another chance to be Born.

And from that first, hopefully timeless breath to last

A thousand lives met in a single moment at Death.

Laying beside every manifestation of Life, a universal Grave;

 

We’ll climb our way, as spirits, from the Grave.

ascend a ladder of lightning to find Home,

and when our fate is gone, we’ll finally be at peace at Last,

but the relief will be fleeting, because it is our nature to be Born,

to suffer through Life,

and savor the release of Death.

 

Do you long for the kiss of Death?

To dive into your forgotten Grave,

So you may finally know the warmth of Home,

Be rid of your aching Life.

and maybe take on a new form once you’ve been Born.

Can you remember the life you lived Last?

 

Or is this the Last time you will welcome Death?

Find your Spirit-Home beyond your Grave,

and if you never take Life for granted, you will be Born.

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