Poetry in Motion Poems

The Sestina

Meditation at Dawn:
A busy day begins at dawn

Each day I put aside some worship time,
An hour to meditate upon God’s word,
Before the percolator starts to sing,
And after I take my medication,
I find a secluded spot for prayer,
A place to feed my soul at dawn’s first light.

Caught between the darkness and the light,
Like my soul on its journey through matter’s time,
I open a book of my favorite prayers,
Then slowly and carefully, I read each word,
That heals my soul’s need for medication
And gives my spirit a song it wants to sing.

Outside my window a nightingale sings,
Intoning the glory of dawn’s light,
His melody musical medication,
For a mind wearied by the march of time:
I open my journal and put my thoughts into words
I write a haiku in the form of a prayer.

As I intone my morning prayers,
The nightingale continues to sing,
His music echoing my words,
As morning’s splendor breaks in waves of light,
I realize that it is time,
To wake Mom up for her medication.

The nightingale does not worry about medication,
Instead, he intones a simple glorious prayer,
In chords that seem to stop the hands time,
He always has a joyous song to sing,
He always has time to watch dawns beauteous light,
And to remain silent as other birds speak their words.

I get up before dawn to read God’s word,
Before my day begins, I take my medication,
I make a pot of coffee before the break of light,
I meditate and chant a prayer,
Sometimes I listen to a nightingale sing,
This is the only part of my day I do not worry about time.

Each day, I spend my time chasing words,
The nightingale sings, while I take medication,
Is there a secret to prayer, I cannot see in dawn’s light?

Line count: 39
Form: The Sestina is a poem containing 6 stanzas with each stanza composed of 6 lines and an ending 7th or tercet stanza containing 3 lines. Six words repeat (not necessarily verbatim, i.e. word variations are allowed) is an specific pattern for each stanza. Sestina theme or thought pattern concerns leaps and bounds. This is the pattern of the stanza; the letters refer to the location of a word in the stanza. Stanza 1: A, B, C, D, E, F. Stanza 2: F, A, E, B, D, C. Stanza 3: C, F, D, A, B, E. Stanza 4: E, C, B, F, A, D. Stanza 5: D, E, A, C, F, B. Stanza 6: B, D, F, E, C, A. Tercet: Line 1: AB; Line 2: CD; Line 3: EF. In the tercet, the first word (A) is placed about half-way through the line and this follows with the words of the two remaining line. The last (tercet) stanza is a summary or after thought.