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| Near Southport's Provision Company |
Ago Tomorrow,
Again Celebrated
in Sestina
By Moristotle
[I wrote the sestina below to commemorate my wife’s and my 47th wedding anniversary. In the form of an interview, it was published on April 17, 2013, under the heading “Ask Wednesday: A husband on what he and his wife did Monday.”
According to one of the 14 comments on the original post, this sestina was nearly the 10th I had written in the short time since I discovered the form.]
What did you and your wife do on Monday?
We drove over to Southport, on the coast,
To spend a night away to celebrate
This year’s marking of all our married time
Together. Not to approach platitude,
But the day was our anniversary.
How many years, your anniversary?
Seven of them have been on a Monday—
In all 47...It’s platitude,
But as the years tick off, they start to coast,
And as they gather speed there comes a time
You must be reminded to celebrate.
Surely not reminded to celebrate!
Oh, you’d be surprised. Anniversary
Comes upon you out of forgotten time—
It doesn’t matter whether it’s Monday—
Your wife might suggest you go to the coast;
That one forgets isn’t a platitude.
Do you think my questions are platitudes?
No, you just want to help us celebrate.
You may have heard we were off to the coast
And guessed it was our anniversary,
Even suspected it was on Monday,
Just didn’t know their number over time.
What day of week were you wed, back in time?
On a Friday, no weekend platitude
For us—could as well have been a Monday.
But of course we do choose to celebrate
The very day of anniversary:
Two days ago to Southport, on the coast.
And how was it over there, on the coast?
Cooler, of course, quite usual for the time,
Rather perfect for anniversary,
If that’s not, to say, a platitude.
But the important thing to celebrate
Is inside the heart, even on a Monday.
You’ve coasted again into platitude!
Whatever time is left to celebrate
Anniversary, use it, even Monday!
_______________
[Follow-up on when any date repeats on the same day of the week.]
in Sestina
By Moristotle
[I wrote the sestina below to commemorate my wife’s and my 47th wedding anniversary. In the form of an interview, it was published on April 17, 2013, under the heading “Ask Wednesday: A husband on what he and his wife did Monday.”
According to one of the 14 comments on the original post, this sestina was nearly the 10th I had written in the short time since I discovered the form.]
What did you and your wife do on Monday?
We drove over to Southport, on the coast,
To spend a night away to celebrate
This year’s marking of all our married time
Together. Not to approach platitude,
But the day was our anniversary.
How many years, your anniversary?
Seven of them have been on a Monday—
In all 47...It’s platitude,
But as the years tick off, they start to coast,
And as they gather speed there comes a time
You must be reminded to celebrate.
Surely not reminded to celebrate!
Oh, you’d be surprised. Anniversary
Comes upon you out of forgotten time—
It doesn’t matter whether it’s Monday—
Your wife might suggest you go to the coast;
That one forgets isn’t a platitude.
Do you think my questions are platitudes?
No, you just want to help us celebrate.
You may have heard we were off to the coast
And guessed it was our anniversary,
Even suspected it was on Monday,
Just didn’t know their number over time.
What day of week were you wed, back in time?
On a Friday, no weekend platitude
For us—could as well have been a Monday.
But of course we do choose to celebrate
The very day of anniversary:
Two days ago to Southport, on the coast.
And how was it over there, on the coast?
Cooler, of course, quite usual for the time,
Rather perfect for anniversary,
If that’s not, to say, a platitude.
But the important thing to celebrate
Is inside the heart, even on a Monday.
You’ve coasted again into platitude!
Whatever time is left to celebrate
Anniversary, use it, even Monday!
_______________
[Follow-up on when any date repeats on the same day of the week.]
| Copyright © 2013, 2023 by Moristotle Married on Friday, April 15, 1966, this couple’s anniversary was on a Monday in the years 1968, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002, and [2013]. If they both live to enjoy their fiftieth, they can celebrate it on a commemorative Friday in 2016 [they did, in Paris, France]. |
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