What an honor to be among the winners of the Oregon Poetry Association's Fall 2021 contest. My sestina, "Far From the Tree," was second place in the Traditional Category.
I'm especially happy to have this honor because the requirements of a sestina helped take my mind off of other things...like the pandemic, for instance. If you need a creative challenge, you might want to write a sestina of your own. Here are the rules of the form. If you're anything like me, it might tie your brain in knots at first, but keep going and you'll get there!
Thank you to OPA and to Marilyn Johnston, who judged this category and called my poem "a provocative women's history course." I can live with that!
To read "Far From the Tree," as well as the winning poems by Brad Maxfield and Amelia Díaz Ettinger, click here.
