“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves." - Rainer Maria Rilke
Do you ever have a moment, a surprise occurrence, that just sticks with you for days on end, and you can’t quite figure out why? This happened to me recently. I was supposed to pick up my granddaughter from her local playground, where she was with another babysitter. I was unfamiliar with this D.C. park and I had trouble finding her right away, which is always an unsettling feeling for a guardian. The city has great facilities, meaning that ‘a park’ can be quite large, encompassing several blocks. At this one, there’s a playground, a community center, a pool, basketball courts, and even a library. It turns out that they had gone into the library to use the bathroom, and that’s why I couldn’t find her right away. I ended up having an interaction with a stranger that continues to make me smile, it was so weird – and unexpectedly kind.
I had journaled about the day, but not much more. I wondered why the day/the moment stuck with me – and I thought about that great Rilke quote (above) and figured I’d just discover the full meaning in time.
Yesterday, on the Ethical ELA 5-day poetry Open Write, the challenge was to write a sestina… oh my, do you know the sestina form? I tried writing a few of these earlier this year, a personal challenge, in the midst of a 100-days of poetry commitment I was making. This poetry form is an intricate puzzle for me, one which I invariably fail. Six key words to end phrases and six stanzas jumbling the order of these end words? By the third or fourth stanza, I lose my thoughts, my way, my focus and just fizzle out. Oh my.
Then it dawned on me – why not try to tell the story of the stranger through the sestina form? At least I wouldn’t “lose my way” – because there was a beginning, middle, and an end. This ended up being great fun for me, and I thought I’d share the sestina here. I still need lots of practice with this form, but I was excited to complete six stanzas for once. Also, I used the Rilke quote as the bedrock of my six key words – so, I knew where the poem would end!
One last thing – writing into this form led me to a deeper level of reflection. I am realizing that the day sticks with me because this man was not someone I would normally have met or spoken with or hung around; and yet…well, you’ll see…
It makes me wonder what I miss in life on more ‘ordinary days.’
[Warning – I wonder if reading a sestina by a novice sestina writer is rather like listening to a young child practice their recorder? My apologies, in advance! Ha!]
My six words are
All Patient Heart Unsolved Questions Love
Be patient toward all There at a city park I knew not at all, and behind schedule to boot, I parked impatiently and stepped out. He spun up, said HEY!, startling my heart; where he came from, vexxed me, confused me, unsolved Watcha doing? Who are you? His torrent of questions began; I challenged myself to respond with love. Yes, my personal goal, to show “the stranger” love rather than lead with fear, try to be open to all; but within myself, appeared a flood of questions - how do I make time for this or offer patience? finding my granddaughter is priority one and unsolved only this will settle my heart He said, The name’s Karim, this here’s my park, my heart Chuck Brown played here, music I love What brings you round? What can I help solve? I know everything about this place, I know it all. From his perspective, I was the one out of place; patiently, gently, he was quizzing me, questioning Ahead at the playscape, no children, a scared feeling and questions My granddaughter’s supposed to be here, my sweetie, my heart. I walked along briskly, trying to stay patient He stays close on his bike and assures, We’ll find her, love; It’s the safest neighborhood in D.C., safest of all. Honestly, I was in two places at once, her location unsolved. Where’s her sitter? Where are the playmates? Everything’s unsolved. I’m tagging along with a stranger, riddled with questions If she’s not at the playground, where all might she be? Is this the day that breaks my heart? He soothed, Down the hill, there’s a water park kids really love. Don’t worry, I gotcha, keep the faith, be patient. So we continued, he the calm doctor, me, worried patient Happenstance odd couple with mission unsolved Up, down, around, across the field, together, until I found my love Why I trusted this guy, I suppose that’s a question I tell you, it made sense at the time to open my heart I smile now at his words, I’m my brother’s keeper, that’s all. “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.” Rainer Maria Rilke
Maureen,
You’ve written a beautiful destination. The length heightens the tension you must have felt, and the Rilke quote is a perfect framing. I saw that prompt yesterday and thought, not today. That form is too much for my addled brain. I love the backstory here to your poem and thankful you found Frog (?) or Bird (?).
I hadn’t really thought about the sheer length of the sestina actually helping to build overall tension, but, yes, I guess it does! Thank you for this. And, yes, it was dear Frog who was at the park with others (and mystifying me, hahaha). Thanks, Glenda!
Oh I love this post on so many levels. First of all, I read the Ethical ELA post about trying a sestina and opted to put my writing energy elsewhere (aka ran away!). So, I can REALLY appreciate all that went into this. I can see how the story enabled you to write the highly structured sestina , and that’s so interesting to me since your decision to be less boundaried, to “respond with love” opened things up for this story to happen in the first place. I also really like how you structured your piece overall. Great slice and wonderful job with the sestina.
I love the connection you make here between the “highly structure sestina” and my “less boundaried approach” – thank you for this!
You not only tackled the challenge of the sestina, but you captured this experience beautifully! The way you’ve woven the words together sets such a tone for both the panic you were beginning to feel and the man’s presence at this moment in your life.
Thank you! I think I will attempt this poetry form again with another story on another day…perhaps this is what the singing troubadours are doing when they offer sestinas, simply sharing stories?
Maureen, I love reading the details of the stranger and your process in writing the poem. Beautiful! I laughed when I saw your warning. I think a child’s first recorder lessons are definitely a little cringy, unlike your engaging and well-written, even though novice, sestina. Thanks!
And by the way, congratulations on your new lovely blog site.
Thank you, Denise! Sometimes those little poems we write for Ethical ELA deserve a little background info, I think. About the new blog site, Glenda inspired me to switch platforms, and so I joined WordPress…I have so many things to learn still, and changes to make, but I am having fun. Lovely to hear from you!