Minerva had another poetry challenge this week - & it wasn't an easy one. She challenged her readers to try writing a sestina. The poetry form uses repetition in place of rhyming and uses the last word of each line to create the pattern. Since i found it really hard to write, let alone explain - you can find out "how" here - (i can't believe that the original version also had you follow a meter pattern too). So, here is my first ever sestina - ;)

Family (a sestina)

The Family - my family
fresh, new & not to be torn asunder
vows spoken in voices tender
rings exchanged - the beginning of our joy.
Husband - wife - names so fresh
A union in it's perfection, exquisite.

Broken, he holds me - our lost son, exquisite.
Unforgotten member of our family.
Snow falls, my grief remains fresh.
First hardening, softening, changing, my whole being asunder.
He twists my hair in his hands - remember our joy?
i cradle him still in my memory so tender.

Thinking i'll break if he's too tender,
he hardens himself - the balance is exquisite.
Dawns the morning of cautious joy -
Precious daughter! Healing gift from God, Family.
Joy gives hope and we will not be torn asunder.
New levels of love, my soul takes flight with what is fresh.

Peace reigns as days dawn fresh
Little ones grow in our embrace so tender.
We scoff at what would tear us asunder
whispered promises in twisted sheets at midnight are exquisite.
Children run, grow, feel safe - strong roots of family.
Seasons of pain, seasons of peace, seasons of joy.

Clouds form, shadows creep to steal our joy.
We're safe, but others are sinking, the enemy is fresh.
Fathers gone, mamas absent, children insolent - family.
When did that word lose it's meaning, tender?
Torn apart, pain exquisite -
destroyed, deformed, maligned, asunder.

Floundering, sputtering, drowning, asunder.
He hears, He sees - our pain, our sorrow, our joy.
"He makes me lie down in green pastures." - exquisite.
"He restores my soul" How can those words be fresh?
He beckons our broken hearts in tones ever tender,
The Author, The Finisher, The Creator of family.

His love is exquisite and fresh.
Our quivering joy, tender.
No longer asunder, family.