A sestina is a French form. Thirty-nine lines are divided into six sestets and one triplet, which is called an envoy.

The poem is ordinarily unrhymed. Instead of rhymes, the six end words of the lines in stanza one are picked up and re-used as end words in the remaining stanzas.

The order of the end words is 6-1-5-2-4-3.

In the envoy, which ends the poem, the six end words are also picked up.

My name is Allyson Shaw.

I've been published widely on the net and in paper. A short story of mine has appeared in the anthology of LA writers entitled Absolute Disaster. My full length book of poems, The Bon-bon and Love Token is available at Powell's.