Have you ever tried to create within parameters? It is sometimes fun! In my photography, I will limit myself to ONE lens and see what I can accomplish. I think giving ourselves parameters can bring about great creativity. Here is a poem I wrote. It is in the form of a sestina.
A sestina is a fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The words that end each line of the first stanza are used as line endings in each of the following stanzas, rotated in a set pattern.
The Woman of Light
On the top of a mountain lived a woman of light.
The townspeople troubled by why the woman lived in such a place,
Decided that the mountain woman was out of her mind.
Warnings and rumors spread for many years, covering the truth.
When people shine, sometimes others are blinded and dominated by fear.
One day the woman spoke aloud, “I wonder why no one comes to call?”
As if by magic, a small boy from the town heard her
call.
He told his father, “I’m going to see the Woman of Light.”
“No, my son, the woman is evil,” the father said with fear.
The boy obeyed his father because it was his place.
Later in the day, he was overcome
with knowing the truth.
He thought, maybe it’s the townspeople who are not sound of mind.
The boy stepped onto the mountain trying to calm his
racing mind.
The deep dark forest and rocky path did not sway him from answering the call.
Rocks, briars and the steepness of the climb tried to hold him from the truth.
At last he came to a clearing, his eyes adjusted to the bright light.
He spied a cabin and he knew this was the mountain woman’s place.
All the voices of the townspeople rang in his head; he shook off their fear.
“Hello, my friend. You have nothing to fear.”
Sensing her kindness and warmth, the boy opened his mind.
She sat down by the fire and motioned for him to take his place.
“Did the almighty one send you to answer my call?”
He nodded his head as he stared at
the woman of light.
Finding his voice, he spoke, “I have come to find the truth.”
“Boy, are you ready for the direction of the truth?”
Yes, the boy replied and told her of the townspeople’s fear.
The mountain woman smiled and her face beamed with light.
“We are all the same, we came from the one with a loving mind,
He reaches out to everyone but only few answer the call.
Do you understand? All people have a chance to create a place
Where kindness, love and joy shine and fear, hate and
judgment have no place.
So, do you think you have
found truth?
And can you follow the power of your own call?”
The boy stood from his place by the fire with purpose and no fear.
The lesson of the mountain woman took root in his mind.
He returned to the town a changed soul, a boy of light.
The townspeople called him names and clung to their
fear.
It was clear that the place needed to be steeped in truth.
His mind was set, he would spread the message of the woman of light.
