A Sestina

As I said in my brief article on traditional forms of poetry on January 3, 2024, the sestina is one such poem. In the opinion of some writers, the sestina is challenging to compose. It is a 39-line form (six 6-line stanzas plus a seventh half-stanza). There is no pattern for the number of feet in a line or rhyme scheme. All lines of all stanzas end in one of six “end-words” (designated here as A, B, C, D, E, F), and there is a strict order for the appearance of the end-words, different for each stanza, as follows: 1.?ABCDEF /2. FAEBDC / 3. CFDABE / 4. ECBFAD / 5. DEACFB / 6. BDFECA / (envoi) ECA or ACE

The last stanza or envoi must also include the remaining three end-words, BDF, somewhere during the three lines.

The sestina’s elaborate structure makes composing difficult, and some people do not like how it sounds.

As an example, I’m pleased to transcribe (with minor changes) a piece, “Mini-Chronicle of a pandemic: A Sestina,” a poem I wrote during the pandemic, published by Golden Foothills Press in an anthology, “Doctor Poets & other Healers” (2022).

Mini-Chronicle of a Pandemic

If one stays at home

going out only to walk the dog

and safely do a few errands in the neighborhood,

the worry about the pandemic

caused by the new coronavirus can be more bearable,

especially if one learns to filter the swarming news in the media

Yet, it is hard to limit connections with the media

or disconnect us from others and stay home.

We do it faithfully till the burden makes it unbearable.

To complicate matters, this pandemic may affect dogs.

The world is unprepared to deal with this pandemic,

a fact acknowledged in most neighborhoods.

The saying, "I don't want that to happen in my neighborhood,"

doesn't apply here, even when protests clog the media.

In the past, these events were "acts of God," now a pandemic

caused by a virus that requires people to stay home

and not go out unless it's safe or only to walk the dog.

Patience will be a gift, making the burden bearable.

But the rules remain unbearable.

"I'm bored to death," some say in my neighborhood,

and we feel compelled to do something, walking the dog.

Suggestions and fears are spread through the media,

aiming to "flatten the curve," which starts at home.

Each country has developed diverse ways to fight this pandemic.

Coronavirus surged in China and grew into a pandemic,

crossing borders, destined to become unbearable,

even before we were told to stay home,

"If you go out, just stroll on in your neighborhood."

Understandably, people clung to the media,

avoiding one another and staying closer to their dogs.

We hope the pandemic will end or we make it bearable,

keep up with the media, walk our dogs in the neighborhood,

all measures to keep the crisis bearable in and out of home.

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