Thank you so much, Margaret. I really hope you have time to tinker with a sestina. When I was writing this one I just left it open on my laptop all the time. Every time I sat down to do anything I'd see it and maybe get a couple more lines written. It was done in fits and starts, at least the first draft. Good luck!🤗
I love the idea of just stopping by the sestina. I tend to get crazy tense and try to hammer out the first draft right away, and then trash it in frustration 🤪.
My first experience reading a sestina (to my knowledge). Imagery for days, and the attention to detail - just beautiful. Appreciate the starter tips and diagram as well. Thank you for sharing and for sparking interest in a new-to-me format, after tackling a villanelle recently this brings new perspective. I’ll be thinking of this Starlight Elegy for a good bit of time! Looking forward to your new sestina.
Thanks, Heidi. I really appreciate you reading and responding. I'd never heard of a sestina either before I wrote this one. I learned about it in a creative writing class a couple of years ago and started tinkering with one. It was a really fun challenge. Frustrating at times. But I'm looking forward to trying again.
Tara, I’m in awe. I share your love of closed forms and the discipline they impose. A sestina, however, is beyond challenging. I’ve attempted so many, and fumbled each one. You really knocked it out of the park.
Thank you for the map! I’m going to try again.
I’m so sorry about your difficult week. What a hard time for you. I tried to seek distractions during my rough times last year. Writing was one. And I now have the benefit of those journals I kept. Took me a while to read them, and will take me longer to process the experiences and emotions of that time.
Thank you for sharing this poem. It’s lovely. Keep submitting.❤️
Thanks, as ever Mary, for being so very, very kind and supportive. I'm so glad you enjoyed the poem. Things with my mom go along fairly smoothly for periods of time, and then there's some sort of upset that throws everything into turmoil. I guess that's just the rhythm of things for now. I agree that we have to look for solace or at least distraction where we can find it. I'm looking forward to digging into a sestina next week. I hope you try one, too!💕
Beautiful, Tara! The whole poem is wonderful -- so narrative and rich. And the title is gorgeous. I hardly ever write structured poems, but your invitation is so tempting... 😬
Thanks so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to read. And I hope you'll give a sestina a try. I mean, you don't actually have to show it to anybody if you don't want to. Think of it like a crossword puzzle. If you finish it, great! If not, you still did something hard and cool.
Marvellous!! I'm a terrible poet because I literally just write what I like and don't pay any attention to forms, I'm not even sure what half of them are, but I really enjoyed reading your sestina!! Love it, I'm off to learn proper poetry... 😉
Oh my goodness, you are certainly not a terrible poet! And I don't think tinkering with closed forms necessarily makes for a great poet. I have a puzzler's brain so sometimes a few rules and some structure creates an environment where I can feel creative without dealing with the weight of the whole thing, you know? It's like how a good fence or wall gives you something to garden up against. Thanks for reading. I'm so glad you liked it. 💙
Thanks so much. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading this one. I love that you're game to jump on the sestina train. Mine is moving pretty slowly (in-laws were visiting this week). But I'm ready to get back to it.
Love the sestina. Who cares if poetry mags haven’t taken it. It’s good and if they can’t see that it’s their problem. (I sometimes wonder these days if the net isn’t going to change lit mags in the way that it’s changed traditional music consumption. But I may be wrong and it doesn’t matter: your poem is good.)
I've written stories shorter than this. 😂 Which makes a sestina feel quite intimidating. But, I tend to be the kind of person that sees a writing challenge and goes 'hell yeah, let's try this', so it's possible I'll be trying to write my first sestina next week. Thank you for the inspiration. :)
And sorry to hear about your tough week, Tara. I hope taxes are behind you and that you find some rest this coming week. And, get to play with a beautiful/distracting/exploratory sestina. :)
This is my first time seeing a poem like this and I think you've executed it very well. You've given me a very good first impression on this type of poem, and even a good recommendation, as Bishop is one of my favorite poets, so it's nice discovering more of her work! Thank you!
What a wonderfully poignant poem. Spare and detailed both, with feelings running deep and never spilling over: just the way that old man would want to be described, if he thought of being described at all.
Here's my first (and so far only) attempt at a sestina, written and published here last year:
Thanks so much for sharing that sestina. What a perfect topic to explore with the form. It had and eerie Edgar-Allen-Poe-Raven-esque flavor. Love it. Thank you so much for reading and spending time here. 💙
Also, and I should have said it first: breathing with you through all the complicated life-stuff that you're needing to deal with these days. It comes in waves sometimes; holding a good thought for you to keep the shore in sight.
Brava! Beautiful and memorable.
I’m also a fan of closed forms, though I find them very difficult. The result can be so surprising. I’m hoping to try one with you.
Thank you so much, Margaret. I really hope you have time to tinker with a sestina. When I was writing this one I just left it open on my laptop all the time. Every time I sat down to do anything I'd see it and maybe get a couple more lines written. It was done in fits and starts, at least the first draft. Good luck!🤗
I love the idea of just stopping by the sestina. I tend to get crazy tense and try to hammer out the first draft right away, and then trash it in frustration 🤪.
My first experience reading a sestina (to my knowledge). Imagery for days, and the attention to detail - just beautiful. Appreciate the starter tips and diagram as well. Thank you for sharing and for sparking interest in a new-to-me format, after tackling a villanelle recently this brings new perspective. I’ll be thinking of this Starlight Elegy for a good bit of time! Looking forward to your new sestina.
Thanks, Heidi. I really appreciate you reading and responding. I'd never heard of a sestina either before I wrote this one. I learned about it in a creative writing class a couple of years ago and started tinkering with one. It was a really fun challenge. Frustrating at times. But I'm looking forward to trying again.
Tara, I’m in awe. I share your love of closed forms and the discipline they impose. A sestina, however, is beyond challenging. I’ve attempted so many, and fumbled each one. You really knocked it out of the park.
Thank you for the map! I’m going to try again.
I’m so sorry about your difficult week. What a hard time for you. I tried to seek distractions during my rough times last year. Writing was one. And I now have the benefit of those journals I kept. Took me a while to read them, and will take me longer to process the experiences and emotions of that time.
Thank you for sharing this poem. It’s lovely. Keep submitting.❤️
Thanks, as ever Mary, for being so very, very kind and supportive. I'm so glad you enjoyed the poem. Things with my mom go along fairly smoothly for periods of time, and then there's some sort of upset that throws everything into turmoil. I guess that's just the rhythm of things for now. I agree that we have to look for solace or at least distraction where we can find it. I'm looking forward to digging into a sestina next week. I hope you try one, too!💕
Beautiful, Tara! The whole poem is wonderful -- so narrative and rich. And the title is gorgeous. I hardly ever write structured poems, but your invitation is so tempting... 😬
Thanks so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to read. And I hope you'll give a sestina a try. I mean, you don't actually have to show it to anybody if you don't want to. Think of it like a crossword puzzle. If you finish it, great! If not, you still did something hard and cool.
Marvellous!! I'm a terrible poet because I literally just write what I like and don't pay any attention to forms, I'm not even sure what half of them are, but I really enjoyed reading your sestina!! Love it, I'm off to learn proper poetry... 😉
Oh my goodness, you are certainly not a terrible poet! And I don't think tinkering with closed forms necessarily makes for a great poet. I have a puzzler's brain so sometimes a few rules and some structure creates an environment where I can feel creative without dealing with the weight of the whole thing, you know? It's like how a good fence or wall gives you something to garden up against. Thanks for reading. I'm so glad you liked it. 💙
Love sestinas, and this one did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing. I plan to join you in writing one...soon.
Thanks so much. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading this one. I love that you're game to jump on the sestina train. Mine is moving pretty slowly (in-laws were visiting this week). But I'm ready to get back to it.
Love the sestina. Who cares if poetry mags haven’t taken it. It’s good and if they can’t see that it’s their problem. (I sometimes wonder these days if the net isn’t going to change lit mags in the way that it’s changed traditional music consumption. But I may be wrong and it doesn’t matter: your poem is good.)
I've written stories shorter than this. 😂 Which makes a sestina feel quite intimidating. But, I tend to be the kind of person that sees a writing challenge and goes 'hell yeah, let's try this', so it's possible I'll be trying to write my first sestina next week. Thank you for the inspiration. :)
And sorry to hear about your tough week, Tara. I hope taxes are behind you and that you find some rest this coming week. And, get to play with a beautiful/distracting/exploratory sestina. :)
I was told there would be no math
OK sorry
This is my first time seeing a poem like this and I think you've executed it very well. You've given me a very good first impression on this type of poem, and even a good recommendation, as Bishop is one of my favorite poets, so it's nice discovering more of her work! Thank you!
What a wonderfully poignant poem. Spare and detailed both, with feelings running deep and never spilling over: just the way that old man would want to be described, if he thought of being described at all.
Here's my first (and so far only) attempt at a sestina, written and published here last year:
https://open.substack.com/pub/26thavenuepoet/p/it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night?r=1prvh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks so much for sharing that sestina. What a perfect topic to explore with the form. It had and eerie Edgar-Allen-Poe-Raven-esque flavor. Love it. Thank you so much for reading and spending time here. 💙
Also, and I should have said it first: breathing with you through all the complicated life-stuff that you're needing to deal with these days. It comes in waves sometimes; holding a good thought for you to keep the shore in sight.
Thank you. So kind. 🤗