Sestinas

The rules of the form are bizarre, but the results are often compelling.

There's a sort of obsessive-compulsiveness to the Sestina, with it's continual recycling of just a few key words.

It's a shuffling and reshuffling of a very small deck.
It is madness.
It is precision.
It is angels dancing on the head of a pin.
Everybody should write at least one sestina at some point in their life. You might as well start now!

Here's a great spot for samples and inspirations:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/sestinas/

Check 'em out. There's a world of weird beauty hiding here.

McSweeney's is also possibly the biggest time-wasting site on the net for those with a literary inclination. Don't say you haven't been warned!

~tps