“May I Have This Dance?”

a sestina

I.

It was the coldest night of all the year

For us to come and choose to dance

Snowflakes settle upon the lashes of my eyes

As I open the door to the grand (ball)room

Music and laughter greet me, feather-light

I know that this is where it all begin(s)

II.

Strangers, bold behind their masks, make the choice to dance

They spin across the crowded room

Drenched in dreams as the night begins

Lost in romance, forgetting the year

Intoxicating—; I could not miss the light

Emanating from the depths of their lovers' eyes

III.

So I take a moment, breathe it in, only to begin

To lose my breath as I meet your eyes

Staring me down 'cross the reams of light

The music stops. For the first time this year

I cannot move; I cannot speak—my heart, it starts to dance

As willing feet carry me across the room

IV.

The air is sweet; love permeates the room

Upon our shoulders, endless possibilities dance

A sensation so foreign; so strange; oh, the stories it will begin

I cannot resist the spark; the flame it will soon (a)light

This is what I have waited to feel all these year(s)

And I know that I am falling, lost in deep brown eyes

V.

We move together in the truest of dance(s)

My head spins as you dip me back; seeing the upside-down room

And I am alive for the first time with brightest eyes

The music slows, and I can feel the electricity begin

We seal the moment with a touch, searing like fireworks’ light

Winter's kiss is no longer the only one that I received this year

VI.

I read the yet unwritten stories dancing in your eyes

They criss-cross the Earth; go far beyond this room

As the clock strikes midnight to end the year

There is one more adventure that will now begin

I find myself breathless; captivated by the (star)light

We are forever changed by a single, fierce dance

VII.

The year comes to a close, yet our story now begins—

We will dance with the world as our (ball)room,

Guided by (star)light—and as for the music? It’s in your eyes

Fixed Stars Do Not Exist

Fixed Stars Do Not Exist – a sestina

Helen Ngo

October 2011

I.

[We are] two stars in a galaxy

Drawing closer as we orbit each other again

Bound by the laws of time and space, ever so rational

Fixed as long as the great universe will stand

We are the epitome of science; exhibiting the unknown

Will we be stable forever? Perhaps it will all change tonight

II.

Light-years have separated us for millennia, but not tonight

Against the laws of cosmic tradition, we will take a stand

We cannot fight this wish anymore, catching fire, breaking rational(e)

The Milky Way itself will become undone, a changed galaxy

As celestial chaos ensues; they thought this would never happen again

All eyes are on you and me as we drop a match on the great unknown

III.

The zenith will draw an invisible line upon our hearts tonight

And we will dance upon the horizon at altitudes unknown

The people on Earth will watch our trajectory, trying to (under)stand

The mysteries hidden in the depths of a great galaxy

Men and women of science, of astronomy, of the rational

Will be amazed by Nature’s dazzling show again

IV.

And exactly what is it that captivates the galaxy?

It is the meeting of two polar opposites, an experiment unknown

The axis of the very universe will be transposed tonight

As two hearts collide in a “once in a million” fireworks show again

Nature itself will fight back with evidence of the rational

But it is too late; our light shines brighter, we will (with)stand

V.

So, welcome to this strange new galaxy

Home to my heart, nothing to you [yet] but the unknown

That will soon change; scientists always try to (under)stand

We are both pawns in the game of Science, but not tonight

Right now, this moment, Logic is eclipsed by wonder again

As you make me forget the reasons why—irrational

VI.

One day the world will look back upon this and they will (under)stand

They will say, “Remember those two, the stars that chased the day into night,

And then, in the face of danger, laughed at the unknown?”

And they will hope for such another brilliant show again

It is not often that one will dare to challenge the rational

But you and I, we are sparkling so bright that we can be seen in every galaxy

VII.                            

The very Sun is eclipsed by blinding radiance tonight, as we abandon the rational

At the precipice of the galaxy, a place I thought I’d never see again

As we stand with our hands clasped against the great unknown