hidden beneath a sestina

Eddies of wind dance tornadoes of sand
twisting cyclones that give it new power.
The monster rises to eat up the land
and the children all run toward the tower.
Poppies spring up into fields unbidden
the escape to the tower is hidden.

New flowers keep the monster's form hidden.
(It prefers green vegetation to sand.)
It feeds on poppies with greed unbidden,
and succumbs to their deep sleeping power.
Up in the turret, the children tower,
marveling miles of the poppy bright land.

Their usual view is arid bland land.
Or, the sandstorms keep everything hidden.
Mesmerized they look out from the tower
to appreciate the dense flowered sand.
Not one can forget the monster’s power,
and the children’s pulse quickens unbidden.

The monster always arrives unbidden
before it gobbles up gallons of land.
It gorges on dirt with voracious power,
quaking plates that the sweet Earth keeps hidden.
Fields of red poppies devour the sand
their roots bind up the ground ‘round the tower .

Whispers of legends breeze through the tower,
children, monsters, and poppies unbidden.
Trillions of poppies once rooted in sand.
Their red-papered petals peppered the land.
The kingdom’s children keep secrets hidden,
quickening pulses apprehend power.

The Earth shudders and detonates power
to crack open her shell near the tower.
Right beneath where the monster sleeps hidden
children see the Earth unlock unbidden.
A gaping gash is exposed in the land
and the monster swirls down buried in sand.

Children remember power unbidden.
Red rings the tower when spring hits the land.
Stories stay hidden in red-papered sand.