A poem by Thomas Thornburg from Munseetown

Father, that winter when your death descended
Upon the conversation of your friends,
We prayed you grace to see you easy ended
Since grace denied that we should mark you mended;
Beyond our pale you pilgrimed undefended
In your hard death forsaken, unattended.

Father, what hast Thou wrought that unattended
On this feast-day the dark of death descended,
That into dark he fared it undefended,
Bereft the wine-bright company of friends?
The circle shivered and would not be mended,
So dark his doom that saw him ended.

Father, forgive us that Thy Grace unended
Attend our several farings unattended;
Attend us now when most we needs be mended;
Dirk this despair, this dark on us descended;
Draw, and redress this company of friends;
Friend us and do not leave us undefended.

Do not pretend we fare not undefended
In these dark lists where all bright feats are ended,
Forsaken by the company of friends.
Friend me no friends where I fare unattended.
Quick as the edge of death on me descended,
Attend me: that defeat must see me mended.

Father, proceed, present me recommended
As God’s right man alone and undefended
In any wise save from yourself descended,
I am so keen to keep this fray unended,
To go by God alone and unattended.
Follow me, Friend, sans benefit of friends.

Pater, ave atque vale. Friends,
Gather me broken when I lie unmended;
For God’s sake do not leave me unattended,
But pray me grace for any I offended,
And stab back death to see your duty ended,
Life’s human duty thus on you descended.

Father and Friend whose sweet self death offended,
Thy Son unmended in his grief unended,
Attend a prayer to this drawn line descended.

Editor’s note: for those who wish more on the sestina as a form, please consult the article in Wikipedia. But that may be unneccesary as the poem, as often is the case when a form is well-executed, defines itself well enough that the humanity that pours through it requires less in the way of justifying that particular form. We invite you, rather, to let yourself be moved by this meditation on Fathers and Sons and Friends.