Christmas (A Sestina) Comments

A heartwarming rendition

You seem to grasp the essence of Christmas and your prove so in your beautifully penned poem. There is nothing much to say other than 'well done! ' Sorry my reply is rather very VERY late. Please do send me a message for further notice on some new work.

wat a bright and cheerful poem...peace is a calming thing and to be with a loving family on christmas day...wat more could you want as such the grace of God...

Excellent complex (visual and cognitive) metaphor: Love is burning bright, outshining the fireplace Excellent abstract poem 10++++++++++++

Yea Les, thank God for family!

good X'mas poem...refreshing...10

Merry Christmas lovely poem good job

Say hello and Merry Christmas to Moriah, she's the star of this piece I believe. Surely she will have her own fireplace one of these days. This is a family piece of poetry I suppose. Thanks for sharing. Again Merry Christmas to you all...

very lovely. it highlights some of the most wonderful things bout Christmas. Merry Christmas to everyone.

Hi Les Merry Christmas. This is a really beautiful poem. It reminded me a lot on our Christmas gatherings with family members. It is also a very well written. Like any other form of poetry, sestinas have variations and i found yours to be meeting all of the requirements...........10 Milica

Have a wonderful Christmas! Lovely poem!

i really like this poem, it reminds me of Christmas at my house

Merry Christmas....Leslie 10+

Hi Leslie. Christmas is a time of miracles, and your poem is filled with such longing. What a blessing it is for Grandma and Grandpa to be alive. “Worries swept away.” “Laughter replaces sadness.” “The gift of family.” And “Heaven’s peace.” What a lineup! These are some of the greatest miracles. Also, they make wondrful Christmas gifts. Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas. 10

Leslie, I won't dare to comment on the literary composition of this piece.However, I am touched by the sentiment the piece preserve as we are ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Merry X-Mass and a blessed 2010.

Lovely Christmassy piece. What is grandmas soul food?

Les, a stelllar effort, indeed, my friend. The Sextain, or Sestina, is arguably the most abstruse literary composition that any Poet could endeavor on, specifically due to its ostensibly neverending myriad requirements. As stated by other commentors already, you have successfully nailed the 6-6 requirement, along with its accompanying Tercet, or envoy. As far as that one repetitious line, that you do indeed include, it is my belief that it must appear in the last line of each of the 6 stanzas....and only the last 6 words of that line is to be repeated. Your 'mistletoe' line appears to be your repeition line, and though you mention it in different contexts in each stanza...you are employing it stanzaically variable, as opposed to in the very last line of each stanza(which i believe to be a requirement) , and with the exact same 6 words. The other issue is in what is called ''the retrograde cross'', which in other words means: the Sestinas ultimate migrain-initiator! lol! Now, those 6 words that you must use in the last line of every stanza? ...Well...they MUST read in a specific order, and this requirement is called''Retrogradatio Cruciata'' or as stated above, Retrograde-Cross.The order is set up almost appearing as a mathematical formula, but at least you don't have to do the math...The following is the pattern/sequence that these 6 words must follow, in each of the 6 stanzas: [We will use the #'s 1,2,3,4,5 & 6 to represent the 6 words that appear as the last 6 words in stanza 1. Below is the exact order these 6 words must appear in the last line of each of the 6 stanzas]Whew! Stanza 1: 1-2-3-4-5-6 Stanza 2: 6-1-5-2-4-3 Stanza 3: 3-6-4-1-2-5 Stanza 4: 5-3-2-6-1-4 Stanza 5: 4-5-1-3-6-2 Stanza 6: 2-4-6-5-3-1 Finally & mercifully, the ''Tercet'' or 3-line envoy must also include these same 6 words, but(of course) in this specific order: Tercet / Line 1: 1 & 2 Tercet / Line 2: 3 & 4 Tercet / Line 3: 5 & 6 Les, if you notice, the Tercet is aligned to have those repetitious 6 words to be in the very same order as they were in Stanza 1. Again, great effort, indeed, Les! ...Me? I wouldn't go there(attempt a Sestina) with Poe or Dickinson by my side! You are a very brave young man, Les...and a fine scribe! FjR

a nice poem....a heartwarming poem on christmas...... liked it.....

Nice effort with this Leslie, you almost pulled it off....Sestina's can be quite a challenge...but I think with a little more practise you will be king of the hill.....a top respect must be shown when someone attempts this form...either way Leslie...I really enjoyed the poem, AND HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO IMPRESS! ! ! ! ! ! 10+++

a wonderful poem remarkable effort for the theme for the format.... kudos for the effort to make it perfect...... I agree with Carl some of the scheme is a mess up of which I tried it too this Sestina and it just gave me the headache to loss the sequence.......but I admire you for this.....I like the message of the poem...