YWA Winner 2006
Poetry Grades 7-8
Amelia Cai
New York: A Sestina
1
I was fresh from Germany, and had no idea how to get a Metro Card
2
The bus driver gently refuses my bills. A young girl waves me over,
talking on her phone
3
I swap the bills for the card, and scrutinize this friendly girl. She wore
a lot of eyeliner
4
On her knapsack, I spy an interesting badge: "A village in Texas is
missing an idiot."
5
I assume the subject is George Bush. She is also wearing navy blue
Converses
6
I hear snippets of the Dave Matthews Band.
6
I look around. The young man across from me is wearing a shirt that
says Ramones. "A band,"
1
He says. Feeling bleak, I look at the one thing that shows I belong in
New York, my green card
5
He, too, is wearing those shoes. But they are black, and the C is
rubbed out on the logo Converses
2
I hear a ringing. I answer my phone
4
It is my sister, who I'm on my way to visit. "You can get through,"
she says. "You're not an idiot."
3
I wonder who she is now. Is she like that girl with the phone, wearing
a lot of eyeliner?
3
Does she wear all black, like I hear New Yorkers do, to match her
eyeliner?
6
Does she listen to the Ramones, the young man's favorite band?
4
Still, she is my sister, and I'm reassured by her words. "You're not
an idiot."
1
Getting off from the bus and walking to the subway, I realize I still
don't have a Metro Card
2
I look for the girl with the phone.
5
She's not there, but the nice Metro Card vendor sells me one. She is
also wearing Converses
5
I look down at my fashionable-in-Germany Pumas. Maybe I should
get Converses
3
As I wait for the train, I think of my girlfriend. German women don't
wear eyeliner.
2
When I get on, I think to call my sister. Out of service, reads my
phone.
5
"Doesn't work underground," an old lady told me. I sit beside her and
turn on my favorite band
1
After a few minutes, the lady thinks to hand me a card
4
"Psalm of the Day," she says as she leaves. "Read it. Don't be an
idiot."
4
I read it. Well, I think. I'm not an idiot.
5
Thinking again of Germany, I realize I need to get gifts. Maybe I'll get
everyone Converses
1
A bang. I see a homeless man. Hanging from his neck is a board of
card.
3
I felt for the man. So did another woman. She too is wearing a lb. of
eyeliner.
6
As the man hears a clanking, he says quietly, pointing at the cup, "My
savings are up to that band."
2
New Yorkers are rather friendly, I thought. A guy walks in, catching
my eye. He is on his phone.
2
Finally, he puts down his phone.
4
I motion to his shirt. It says, "3y3 5p34k 13372. What's it to you,
idiot?"
6
|v|3 7[ ] oh3, I sign. K0074, he signs back, and points to his rubber
wrist band
5
It says "13375p34k5. I smile and notice my Leet-speaking friend is
wearing green Converses
3
I look at his eyes. Even men seem to wear eyeliner.
1
What bizarre but friendly people! I muse as I get off. I'll extend my
green card.
6
I'm here. As the door opens, I note my sister's engagement band.
2
She hangs up her phone.
1
After I hug her, I hand her a birthday card.
4
"See, you made it," she
says. "You're not an idiot."
5
I survey her. "You need Converses."
3 She laughs. You've caught on."
I look at her eyes. "And eyeliner."
Notes
- A sestina is "a verse form first used by the Provençal troubadours, consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in varied order as end words in the other stanzas and also recur in the envoy." (www.dictionary.com)
- 3y3 5p34k 1337. This, translated from Leet to English, means, "I speak Leet." Leet is a form of Internet slang, in which spelling and grammar are often mixed up. Leet is believed to have originated in online gaming communities, and comes from the word "elite."
- |v|3 7[ ] oh. This is also Leet. It means, "Me too."
- K007. This is also Leet. It means "Cool."
- Language written in Leet is often called "13375p34k," or "Leetspeak."
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