A Second Contest of Rhetoric and Verse

Is it not the nature of all great things to endure a sequel, to seek to prevail a second time? It is certainly the nature of poetry, the most flamboyant and metaphorical style of language second only to my own narrative prose. And so begins the second Poetry Contest here at the Burnt Toast Diner. You, the patrons of this eatery, shall cast ballots upon the termination of this contest, opting for a winner, a Grand Poobah of literary proportions.

Our first contestant is an adolescent figuratively shooting for the moon, where I am certain he has previously traveled, with this odd poem of aliens, machines and, of course, the greatest of man’s inventions, love.

Western Sestina

by West “Kal-El” Rosen

Born at the gateway to a new frontier was an alien,

Meant to live set apart from the machine,

And rise above it all in meteoric flight.

But for this god-like being to realize his destiny,

He was subject to unknown terror,

And forced to bear it as his secret.

And at the center of this hidden secret

Existed a man to whom morals were alien.

Behind his every footstep followed terror,

Answering the call of the pernicious machine,

Haunting the young god as he pursued his destiny,

Weighing down his heart as he struggled for flight.

Yet from his unearthly vantage while in flight

He found a woman who could share his secret,

And be a goddess in their shared destiny.

Even though he had the spirit of an alien,

And she the compliance of the machine,

Love emerged to fill their hearts with terror.

And although the prospect of newfound love posed a terror,

They stole moments together in flight,

Throwing sand into the cogs of the machine.

This love of theirs was a blessed secret,

And gave meaning to the life of the young, god-like alien,

Secure as he was in the promise of their destiny.

But, oh! Fragile as glass was this destiny,

Once the man in the horn-rimmed glasses drove him off in terror.

Father to the invulnerable goddess and foe to the alien,

He made his enemies choose not fight but flight.

And the young god feared that they would lose their secret

As their hearts were ground to a pulp within the machine.

And more cogs erupted from within the machine

To disrupt the course of the young god’s destiny,

And to save them the goddess vowed to sacrifice their secret.

But the young god knew that to do so would bring him yet more terror,

And he parted to continue on his flight,

Continuing on the search for another alien.

And as he kept his secret from the machine,

He met that alien who would share his destiny

Fighting hidden terror rather than choosing flight.