Sestina:Tattoo

Jessica Day


Today, I decided on a tattoo
As you can see, it’s a simple bird cage
But there’s no bird, so what’s it mean, you ask?
It’s a long story, I’ll try to explain
This wasn’t an impulse, I thought it through
Sit back, listen, and try to understand.

Life is strange. That I didn’t understand
I hid my doubt, an unwanted tattoo
I hid it real good, then it poked right through
Suddenly my doubt hid me, and a cage
Of fear held me back, I couldn’t explain
What was wrong with me when someone would ask.

What is wrong with me, I myself would ask
I thought that nobody could understand
And even if they did, how could I explain?
This despair was my inherent tattoo
And I had put myself in this dark cage
And those tungsten bars, I could only glance through

Help I did seek, but, see, nothing got through
Would life always be this hard, I did ask
Soon, I found solace in my dreary cage
I didn't think people would understand
My emotions became a scarred tattoo
They had left me, why I couldn't explain

Everyone asked me to talk, to explain
I no longer cared, I had thought it through
I would scratch it out red, this marred tattoo
What happened, I hoped nobody would ask
And I didn’t want them to understand
I learned to accept this oppressive cage

Then one day, a glass key fell through the cage
I looked around for someone to explain
It took me awhile to understand
For me to learn my hope had broken through
I crawled out slow, no questions did I ask
I celebrated this with a tattoo

This is the story of my gold bird cage
And how my hope had quietly dropped through

Why I was first caged, I couldn't explain
But I'll tell you my story, if you'll ask

This is my symbol of hope, understand.
The proof of my victory, my tattoo.