Ichor weeps and catches throat,
Baby’s breath in bouquets choke,
Lilies border brusque brown reeds,
Elegant women model weeds.
Wives watch and wait and pray for
Husband’s wallets come what may.
Spouses with their money out may
Touch a thickly whiskery throat.
Women, wondrous women, watch for
The fetching, retching red-faced choke.
Fragrant lilies see the weeds,
Listen to fluting flautist reeds.
Hear them briefly, rustic reeds,
Standing proud, bowing deep. We may
See desire for widow’s weeds;
Diamond necklets round the throat
And they watch the husband choke.
It’s now been worth the wait, for
Red-faced, breathless, overweight, for
Lilies touching brusque brown reeds,
Hear the gasping rasping choke,
Flutter stuttering as they may,
Slim white hands held to their throat,
They prepare for widow’s weeds.
As they prepare for widow’s weeds,
The husbands’ time approaches, for
Poisoned mushrooms in the throat,
Found before you get to reeds,
A faerie ring so pretty may
Hide the powerful ichor, choke
The very life from husbands, choke.
So he dies and she finds weeds,
Widow’s weeds to ensconce may
Promote sympathy and sorrow for
They know not what before the reeds.
Know not the mushrooms in his throat.
Choke is what they do today for
Reeds can wait and wait they may,
Weeds on widows taughten throat.
Polly Robinson © 2013
Fashion Model in Black and White (Photo credit: BiggerPictureImages.com)
I started this sestina at Arvon and have just completed it. For those who are interested in the form, a sestina is a structured 39-line poetic form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three-line stanza, known either as an envoi or tornada. The words that end each line of the first stanza are used as line endings in each of the following stanzas, rotated in a set pattern. The sestina is an example of a complex fixed verse form.
Posted for dVerse with Joe Hesch tending bar on Open Link Night Week 79
13/01/2013 at 15:27
Intense, vivid, and shocking. Really love this one, Polly. But I assure you, my enjoyment stems from a creative standpoint–my husband remains perfectly safe.
13/01/2013 at 16:03
Good to see you enjoyed this one, Carrie ~ it’s interesting to write to a form. Glad that Mr Rubin remains safe
13/01/2013 at 19:40
Very clever use of the form… it rewards more than one reading, which is always a good thing in a poem I believe. Icky mushrooms!
13/01/2013 at 19:45
heh-heh re ‘icky mushrooms’ ~ quite dangerous, I believe …
13/01/2013 at 19:58
Oh, I just wrote on of these and HATED it. This one is beautiful!
13/01/2013 at 21:07
Thank you, Susan. I felt that way when I attempted a Tritina ~ I did it, but called it Tortuous Tritina. that’s how much I enjoyed it (not!) heh-heh
13/01/2013 at 21:07
13/01/2013 at 21:31
wow, Polly… so good! this form is so hard – still working on mine (have kind of an ‘you show me yours, i show you mine- deal’ with Susan) and not getting anywhere.
loved what you did here… can’t you just write mine?
13/01/2013 at 21:56
heh-heh, Miriam, you have made me chuckle ~ bearing in mind that this was started in November, I guess that will show you how tricky I found it.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and good luck with yours … I shall look forward to it
13/01/2013 at 22:06
whew, thanks for your kind words… now it’s a bit easier to relax
13/01/2013 at 23:41
Hi Polly – I’m impressed. I love sestinas and have written a few, but they are really very hard to get right so that they flow and do not seem arbitrary – so that they make sense and are actually poetic. You’ve surpassed all of that. Really cool. k.
13/01/2013 at 23:46
It took me ages to work through my initial ideas k. You’re right, it’s tough to get the flow / sense / poetry ~ good to see this one works for you ~ thanks for your comments.
14/01/2013 at 05:01
Poisoned mushrooms in the throat…oh my… ha…sestinas probably frighten me even more than poisoned mushrooms…smiles…you did an excellent job with this polly
14/01/2013 at 06:35
heh-heh … can’t imagine you + sestina, Claudia, doesn’t stack up at all. Thanks for commenting
14/01/2013 at 06:11
Polly, this is a deliciously wicked little fantasy! You must have been under a spell! I mean, poisoned mushrooms? Also, the sestina you captured beautifully, and I’m a tad jealous, as forms aren’t my thing. Congrats on a beautiful, eerie piece, and thanks for commenting at Sharp Li’l. Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2013/01/13/the-journey-trifecta/
14/01/2013 at 06:45
Glad you thought me under a spell …. possessed, more like! Thanks for visiting and for your comments, Amy ~ I like that you say it’s eerie
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14/01/2013 at 19:35
Lovely alliteration, Polly.
14/01/2013 at 22:53
How very kind of you to notice, Mikel
16/01/2013 at 00:44
goodness…wonderful rhythm to this….and really nice on the alliteration…well played to the form and it def give you a pause as well…eerie is a good word for it…
16/01/2013 at 00:47
Ooh, I like ‘eerie’ Brian ~ thanks for your comments …
16/01/2013 at 00:48
This is really good, intriguing, very gothic , dark fairy tale feel to it… great imagery. I enjoy it more each time I read it..wonderfuL work.
16/01/2013 at 00:50
Loving ‘gothic, dark fairy tale feel’ ~ so pleased you’re enjoying it, Dianne.
16/01/2013 at 05:38
outstanding use of the sestina, such a neat feel, dark and otherworldly to a degree. Really enjoyed. thanks
16/01/2013 at 07:10
Thank you for commenting Fred~ ‘otherworldly’ I like … good to see you enjoyed the sestina.
16/01/2013 at 11:43
I love this form. They are difficult and time consuming to write but have a certain magic. This one is brilliant, dark and mysterious as if living in altered conciousness.
16/01/2013 at 11:53
It seems quite a few of us really like this form [with one notable exception!] I love that you find it ‘as if living in altered consciousness’ ~ what a fab comment ~ thank you
16/01/2013 at 12:57
Polly, this is wonderful. I lost track of the sestina form just following along with the story, which was quite wickedly chilling and unique. I can understand why this took a long time to write…well crafted!
16/01/2013 at 13:17
Mary, how nice of you to say so … happy that you lost track of the form, it shouldn’t be too intrusive IMHO
16/01/2013 at 12:58
I love this form although I haven’t tried yet. Intriguing poem. I really enjoyed reading it
16/01/2013 at 13:18
Thank you … it’s always nice to come across an untried form ~ I really like the sestina and it’s good to see you enjoyed reading it
16/01/2013 at 17:02
I applaud you. A Sestina is a difficult form to tackle because of the repeating last words and the length. I have written two, one with three rhyming pairs in iambic tetrameter. I won’t do another because I don’t know when I will have that much to say. Yours, however, carries the theme wonderfully throughout, captured and held the readers interest. Bravo!
16/01/2013 at 23:32
Aw, thanks Beth. It is a challenging form, the repeating words are tricky. Our tutor at Arvon advised us to use a conjunction and I found this helped. Impressed to see you’ve written two, would you send me the links, please? I’m really interested in what others have done with this form.
Good to see you think the theme of interest ~ thanks for visiting and for your comments.