The title of this article might have thrown you off a little bit, but it is actually the title of a Sestina that I have recently written, prompted by my creative writing teacher, Virginia Konchan, a first timer at Marist College. She has challenged us in writing a poem that is very formulaic and the complete opposite of free verse, as it has a strict format. For those of you who do not know what a Sestina is, it is a six stanza poem with six lines in each stanza, also accompanied by an extra seventh stanza of three lines. In the first six stanzas, the "ending words" of each stanza repeat themselves throughout the rest of the poem (at the end of each line) in a specific pattern. The last stanza (the 7th), consists of three lines that require you to use two of the six repeated words in each line, also in a specific pattern.The pattern is difficult to understand at first, but once you get the hang of it in the first two stanzas, the rest of the poem comes easily. If you want to see what the pattern of a Sestina is, many websites can offer a better explanation than I can. But, I would love to share the poem that I have created. This has been the most challenging poem I've ever written and I think everyone should give it a try!

My poem is titled, Naked, for the stripping of emotions and individual control that comes when feeling you're vulnerable in a relationship. In this poem I make connections and comparisons between my past relationship and the one I am currently in, praising and speaking positively of some things and negatively of others. I encourage everyone to get at their true inner feelings by writing poetry and I most definitely challenge you guys to experiment with writing a Sestina! Below is the poem I've battled with writing. Enjoy!

Naked

When I first realized I loved this man

I was alarmed, for I felt less strong

knowing this vicious cycle to be true

to my previous encounters with a man like you --

gentle, handsome, charming. Life was vacant

before you. You are more, you are my world.

Without warm kisses my safe world

clashes, falls apart without my man.

Lost without you, utterly vacant.

You say there’s nothing my strong

heart can’t handle. For only you

could make my distant dreams come true.

You continued to tell me it wasn't true,

that my delicate heart was your world,

that it was her, she came onto you.

And I accused myself of the man

you turned into - ruthless, not strong.

An exuberant life trickled down to vacant.

In a gloomy world so murky and vacant

the darkness spoke, told me you weren't true

to your words, the fraudulent strong

language you spoke. In your world

I was just a woman in the presence of a man

who didn't know me, addressed me as you.

Fearless and spunky, when it comes to you

filling the emptiness of my transparent vacant

heart. He’s the epitome of an honorable man

whose promises time and time again stay true

among a naive male dominated world,

oblivious to think they are always strong.

You made me this way, I am strong,

tenacious to find the improved you,

but not any longer. I have found my world

who adores me and permeates the vacant

space inside my home and heart. True

love is as rare as a genuine man.

A precious and strong soul cannot be forever vacant.

And even you can stay certainly true

to a woman’s world that made you a better man.