Directions for a sestina:

Pick 6 end words — try to choose words that have multiple meanings, or that evoke a mood, place, or season. You can change the form of the word for grammatical purposes if you need to.  The main 6 stanzas should follow the prescribed pattern.  The ending tercet does not have such a strict pattern.  Look at the poem by Elizabeth Bishop.  She followed a different pattern for her tercet.

Make yourself a prompt sheet to help you keep track of your  words so they follow the sestina pattern.  Remember you can vary pattern of the last 3 lines as long as you use all 6 words, 2 words per line.

This was difficult mostly trying to figure how to actually write this and make it “follow the rules”. Once I finished I was very happy with the written result!

Summer Memories In the Garden with my Father

Nothing busies the mind like memories
Growing vegetables and herbs in the garden
Watching the plants grow at the hand of my father
Taking the bounty and selling it from my wagon
Lasting until the plants have died or the end of summer
The taste and sight of fresh vegetables brings happiness

Thinking of my childhood brings me happiness
Evoking so many dreams and memories
Thinking that the longest year was summer
We always had one of the biggest gardens
Walking the neighborhood with a little red wagon
I was always the baby especially to my father

Everything outside was kept perfect by my father
Working outside brought him so much happiness
Like many children the dream was to have a red wagon
Then I didn’t realize I would have so many memories
I loved to walk down the organized aisles of the garden
Time spent outside increased in the summer

After a long stretch of class time then came summer
Wednesday was the day you could find my father
Spending hours perfecting the plants in the garden
Sunlight, sprinklers and the garden shovel bring happiness
I often wish my father had the same memories
I wonder what ever happened to my wagon

I often wonder if my father began disliking the wagon
Nothing compares to my childhood in the summer
Nothing can replace all of the memories
I spent hours watching the work from my father
Being in a loving home brought me so much happiness
I loved to watch but didn’t like working in the garden

My mother cooked dinners with bounty from the garden
The neighbors bought vegetables from our wagon
Having fresh vegetables brought so much happiness
The taste of fresh food makes me think of summer
I still try to spend valuable time with my father
We are continuing to make beautiful memories

Planting my own garden brings back so many memories
Still pulling a wagon like pushing the chair of my father
Finding my own happiness all year not just summer

©2025 CBialczak