Prose from Poetry Magazine

Illustrated Octavia Butler Do-It-Yourself Sestina

By Terrance Hayes

Image: An empty speech bubble Image: 2 box columns with words in them, one word box in the middle, and 2 more box columns, with 1 long box underneath. Drawings: Stanza 1 is the top of Octavia Butler’s head with a smaller version of the drawing held by a cop. Stanza 2 is a person climbing out of the head. Drawings of Octavia Butler’s head. Stanza 3 is an astronaut climbing out of it. Stanza 4 shows baby birds in a nest on top. Drawings of Octavia Butler's head. Stanza 5 is 3 people together in her head. Stanza 6 is the top unscrewed and flying off. Drawing: Stanza 7 is an empty speech bubble above Octavia Butler’s head, and her head is missing the very top.

Editor's Note:

“Not Too Hard to Master” is a new series of poets writing on form and sharing a prompt. This is the second essay in the series. Read Terrance Hayes’s “Your Do-It-Yourself Sestina,” “‘Envoi’ of William H. Johnson’s ‘Nude,’” and “Two Do-It-Yourself Sestina Starters.”

Originally Published: March 1st, 2023

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Terrance Hayes earned a BA at Coker College and an MFA at the University of Pittsburgh. In his poems, in which he occasionally invents formal constraints, Hayes considers themes of popular culture, race, music, and masculinity. “Hayes’s fourth book puts invincibly restless wordplay at the...

Read Full Biography

This Appears In

Read Issue

Illustrated Octavia Butler Do-It-Yourself Sestina

Poetry and Form

Not a Game