New Stones in the River: A Life Insured
A Sestina
Chance
insures—
earns
those born
the right
to pass.
Watching from the passenger seat as the ambulance passes
in front, slow, down those Sunday streets that chance
placed in my memory. The right
to live replaced, displaced, unlaced, insured
by the born,
a life earned.
There’s a river that runs through town, its waters earned
by the toil of men’s hands. Passing
under bridges, along streets and railways, it is born
astride industry and chance
carving the hill, insuring
prosperity, longevity, human right.
We turn too as the ambulance turns right,
we know she is already gone. “Hold on,” my father earns
the right to say them: those words insuring
a last sliver of hope as it passes,
stream-like, replaced by chance
replacing the dead and the born.
When the river was born,
there were no stones made smooth by the left and right
of its current. Mere chance:
the sight of men throwing jagged gravel in the bed, earning
their own living. The site packs up, passes
when the work is done, with each life insured.
For ten years we’ve been insured
for her death. The years since the river was born,
I have sat on its stony shores, passing
time’s spells: feel roughshod rock turn to velvet as lilies bloom right
from the water’s surface, slowly at first, earning
their place in the sun. Now is your chance.
With lithe petals unfurling as if to say that chance
is just destiny earning
its right.
About the Creator
Kate Kastelberg
-cottage-core meets adventure
-revels in nature, mystery and the fantastical
-avoids baleful gaze of various eldritch terrors
-your Village Witch before it was cool
-under command of cats and owls
-let’s take a Time Machine back to the 90s
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Comments (13)
I loved the twists and turns of the river and how it intertwined with the event that was taking place. Congrats on the win!
Wow. I do not have the words to express what this poem made me feel. You've poured so much raw, real emotion into these words. All I can say is, thank you for sharing them, and your first prize was more than well earned. Congratulations, and do keep writing!!! Amazing job.
A poem that flows like the discursive curves of a river, taking the reader to new places. Beautiful. Congratulations on a well-deserved win.
Reminds me of 'A tree grows in Brooklyn'. This is so wonderfully wonderful. Falls off the eyes like leaves from a tree. Congrats on a lovely win.
Beautiful. talented writing. Honest prose that reaches inside and evokes emotions you had no idea you were about to give when you started reading the first line.
The way this poem unfolds, gathering all of the disparate elements into an event that the reader also participates in- its really beautiful. Congratulations, not just on the win, but for being able to write that.
A wonderfully worded poem. Congrats on being the winner.
Oh, that is beautiful. So very well deserved win. Congratulations
Beautiful!!
Beautiful piece. Congrats.
Congratulations on the win!!!
Congrats! Beautifully composed!
There's a kind of acceptance here, a sense that the emotional work of living and dying must be done.