Senate (Tritina)
Not imposition, but welcome. The way
cooperation welcomes coercion, turning the
tenor of the intended phrase, opening
the statement to interpretation, opening
a point without dissension, in the way
of politics, agreeing which fact will shape the
morning, which truth will determine the
next word and the subsequent, as if opening
the issue, claiming to have found the way,
one way, the only, but never actually opening.
* * *
A tritina might best be described as the lazy poet’s sestina, consisting of ten rather than 39 lines, with the end words of the first stanza repeating in a specific pattern in the subsequent two stanzas. The last line includes all three end words.
The patterns:
abc
cab
bca
The last line uses the end words in sequence following the pattern of the first stanza.
This first appeared on the blog in March 2017.
O at the Edges 
Well turned, Bob.
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Thanks, Ken. I need to attempt more of these.
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So clever, Bob! Hah – I think a lazy poet’s sestina is more within my grasp than a regular one, must try it sometime!
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Yeah, same here. I’ve written only one sestina, and while I’ve attempted others, they were so bad that I gave up on them. The one I completed wasn’t exactly a masterpiece either. I think I threw it out years ago. 🙂
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Wow; that was spectacular.
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Thanks, Randy.
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Awww, of course…
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never heard of that. But I still love me my sestinas. It’s like turning a faceted jewel this way and that in the light to see all the lovely colors.
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Hi Susan! Good to hear from you. One of these days I’ll try writing a sestina. I like reading them, but just haven’t turned out one worthy of the form. 🙂
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So write a bunch that aren’t worthy. That’s how we learn, right? Play in the mud, then sculpt David.
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You’re right. It hasn’t been urgent enough to warrant spending that much time in the mud, but I imagine it will at some point grab me and not let go.
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