For Mother’s Day, I featured an ode. Today, to conclude my Father’s Day trilogy (which started here), I’m going with a sestina. Yes, a sestina. What on earth is a sestina, you ask? Well, gentle reader, I shall enlighten you in as comprehensible a way as possible. A sestina is a thirty-nine line poem with six six-line sections and one three-line section – and with two extraordinarily cool and incredibly structured requirements. First, that each of the six-line sections must end with the same six words, in varying order. In other words, if the six lines in the first section end with the words first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, then each of the lines in the five subsequent sections must end with those same words, arranged in different order. And second, that the three-line section must include those six words also, three in the middle and three at the end of those three lines. Talk about rigid, eh?

So here goes – a poet I am not, so just remember that sometimes it IS the thought that counts. And the willingness to try something new! Also, bear in mind the title today. I am freely admitting that emotion is difficult right from the get-go, so hopefully that burst of emotional honestly will also garner me a few sympathy points for my efforts…

A Sestina About Holidays, Fathers, and the Difficulties of Expressing Love
Continue reading A Sestina About Holidays, Fathers, and the Difficulties of Expressing Love