A photo of Antifa protesters in Portland.‘Red Flags’: A Sestina Sonnet by Joshua C. Frank The Society May 28, 2023 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Rondel, Sestina 16 Comments . Red Flags a sestina sonnet The national flags of the Westerners’ lands Turn red in the dim, fading light of the sunset, Like Communist red—bloody floors in a prison. All the flags look the same when the light fades away. Distinctions of flags have all faded away; You can’t tell your own from the Soviet land’s, And Christians and patriots cast into prison Are told by the warden they’ve seen their last sunset. A country’s long day has to end with a sunset; What soldiers have fought for is fading away, And chaos fights order and locks it in prison. The victim? Depends on just where the die lands. With what we hold dear walled away in a prison, There’s nothing to do now but watch the land’s sunset. . . Walking by a Baseball Game While walking by a baseball game, I heard the National Anthem play. Though toward my homeland I feel shame That God and good are cast away, I stopped, removed my hat, and placed My right hand on my chest, my heart. I bowed my head, and down I faced Till past the Anthem’s final part. I hate my country’s wicked ways; Despite this fact, my heart, I knew, Still would, until my final days, Beat true for red and white and blue. Such reverence came as a surprise, But love of country never dies. . . A Dying Country’s Future a rondelet Our country’s dead Let’s fold the flag and make a grave Our country’s dead A worldwide wave, satanic red, A fiery, hellish tidal wave Has burned away what we would save Our country’s dead . . Texas Pride Flags pepper every Texas scene And call to all for Texas pride. The Stars and Stripes are never seen Without the Lone Star by their side! . . Joshua C. Frank works in the field of statistics and lives near Austin, Texas. His poetry has also been published in Snakeskin, Atop the Cliffs, and the Asahi Haikuist Network, and his short fiction has been published in Nanoism. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 16 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson May 28, 2023 While I agree with the tenor of “Red Flags,” using the word, “Soviet,” is now anachronistic. The flag is now a tricolored striped one of white, blue and red. I applaud the reverence paid to the flag in “Walking by a Baseball Game,” that includes the thoughts of it does not matter if anyone else sees the person in paying respects, but “love of country never dies.” “A Dying Country’s Future,” is an appropriate poem the day before Memorial Day. You are so right about the Texas flag so often flying with the American one. I join you as a fellow Texan and I appreciate your poems. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Roy. I’m glad you appreciate my poems, especially as a fellow Texan. I love how many flags fly around here; my only complaint is that people don’t do a better job of replacing them as they wear out (hence my poem “The Tattered Flag”). When I say “Soviet,” I’m referring to the Soviet Union as it existed from 1922 to 1991. Communist countries to this day, such as China, have a similar red flag, hence the title of the poem. The union of the Cuban flag is red, and most of North Korea’s flag is red as well. Red has always represented Communism, as have other symbols on Communist flags. Given how the modern liberalism that has taken over our country and those that were once part of the Soviet Union is just Communism 2.0, I’m not sure the Soviet Union ever really fell in terms of ideology. I hate to think what version 3.0 might look like… Reply Russel Winick May 28, 2023 Thanks for the reads, Joshua. Good work. Walking by a Baseball Game really hits home. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Russel. “Walking by a Baseball Game” is a true story; it happened eight years ago. Reply Shaun C. Duncan May 28, 2023 This is a powerful set of poems, Joshua. The overt patriotism of Americans, particularly conservatives, and their reverence for the symbols of their nation is often regarded with a certain amount of bemusement by foreigners. I’ll admit that I was one of them for a long time but I’ve come to see it as a very beautiful thing (even if I still don’t fully understand it) and it’s heartbreaking to see so many patriotic Americans over the past few years have to come to terms with the fact that the country they love potentially no longer exists. “Walking By A Baseball Game” captures this feeling beautifully. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Shaun. I’m glad I was able to capture that feeling. Is there really less patriotism where you are? That comes as a surprise. I would say the question isn’t why are Americans so patriotic, it’s why aren’t other countries the same way? Of course, I know of many countries that are—the French are extremely proud of everything French, for example (or at least they were when I was there in the 90s, no idea if they still are). I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, my country is like a big extended family. Also, as a Catholic, I believe that love of country is an extension of the commandment to honor one’s parents. You’ve hit it perfectly in saying that the country we love potentially no longer exists, except I’m not even sure about the word “potentially.” It may still exist in some rural areas… Reply Cynthia Erlandson May 28, 2023 It seems to me that you’ve combined the sestina and sonnet forms cleverly. “And chaos fights order and locks it in prison” is a line that says so much that it almost summarizes the theme. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Cynthia. I’m glad you like that line. The sestina sonnet is really just the sestina algorithm applied to four-line stanzas. Instead of applying the permutation 123456 -> 615243 (or (163542) if you’re using cycle notation) as is usual for a sestina, I’m using 1234 -> 4132 (or (142) in cycle notation). Reply Joseph S. Salemi May 28, 2023 Patriotism, which is love of one’s country and loyalty to it, is a natural virtue, and in sane societies it is nurtured and cherished. When a country goes terribly wrong, then a patriot is crucified on the cross of native love and his refusal to accept evil. Anti-revolutionary French during the Terror, anti-Nazi Germans during the Third Reich, anti-Communist Russians during the Soviet period, anti-Maoist Chinese during the Cultural Revolution — they all experienced this crucifixion, and it is a frequent occurrence in modern history. My father bled for what the American flag used to stand for, so I will never cease to honor it. But I know that America as an institutional entity is now in the hands of left-liberal globalist scum, whose wealth and power and influence are practically unassailable. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 I agree with everything you’ve said in that comment. We’ve turned into the bad guys we used to fight, even worse in many ways. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant May 28, 2023 Josh, I appreciate, and can relate to, the message in each of your well-crafted poems. The rondelet is particularly powerful with its excellent employment of repetition. What an intriguing form the ‘sestina-sonnet’ is. I like it. I’m wondering whether it should be called a ‘quartina sonnet’, bearing in mind the four repeated words. My favorite is ‘Walking by a Baseball Game’ – it moved me greatly. I had exactly the same feelings when I watched the recent coronation in England. I’ve come to believe that our love of country is far greater than our disdain for the wicked cabals that run it. The country is comprised of many beautiful souls who have had their collective voice stolen by a few greedy, ugly, and powerful thieves. America and the UK are far greater than their current draconian rulers. Josh, thank you for these insightful and thought-provoking poems. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Susan. I’m glad you like them. It’s nice to hear that you were greatly moved by “Walking by a Baseball Game.” I thought of the incident that inspired it when you first described similar feelings about the coronation. I agree that love of country is greater than the wickedness that destroys everything lovable about our countries. As I mentioned in my reply to Cynthia, this form’s algorithm is based on that of the sestina. The quartina’s algorithm uses the permutation 1234 -> 4123 (or (4321) in cycle notation), which doesn’t really lend itself to a sonnet, because you need 4 stanzas to complete the cycle. When I applied the sestina algorithm to 4-line stanzas, I got 3 stanzas and a 2-line envoi, for 14 lines, hence the name “sestina sonnet.” Reply Brian A Yapko May 29, 2023 Josh, these are four wonderful poems which meditate upon patriotism and its challenges. Your sestina sonnet is not only an innovative form — it provides the perfect structure for your poetic message. And what a message! I’m haunted by the line “A country’s long day has to end with a sunset.” There’s a bleakness here which is unfortunately accurate as all that was once distinctive about America is swallowed up in some nebulous world government (which really means China.) I like your “Walking by a Baseball Game” very much. The feelings you describe are so relatable. One’s love of country can never be completely poisoned. Patriotism lives in the heart as much as the head and the Stars and Stripes will always make me proud, even if it’s relegated to a symbol of what once was, it could still stand for freedom again. For a freedom that I hope will once again be based on courage and dignity rather than its polar opposites. Reply Joshua C. Frank May 29, 2023 Thank you, Brian. I’ve known since my teens that every great civilization had to fall eventually, just from reading history, but as I’ve seen the craziness of the world escalate these past few years, I’ve come to understand that ours will probably fall within my lifetime, and in some ways, it’s already happened; we’re already at the point where the light is red, and the darkness is close by. I miss when even where we are now still seemed far off. I like that line you mention as well; I felt it summarized the inevitability. “Walking by a Baseball Game” really happened, about 8 years ago. As you can see, I’ve been struggling with this issue for a long time now. I’m glad you found it relatable. Reply Margaret Coats May 29, 2023 Very rarely do I say, “these are all great,” but this collection shows you as a poet of power, Josh. “Walking By” well versifies an epiphany of realizing how much more there is to a country than its wicked ways. “Texas Pride” demonstrates very important local patriotism–in your case adopted, but patriotism nonetheless. The rondelet is one of the best of its kind, and you show that some of the medieval French kinds may have their best days ahead of them. The sestina is also a French or Provencal kind, with first known example by Arnaut Daniel, but an Italian name due to the achievements of Dante and Petrarch. At the moment your sestina sonnet may be the best poem on the overall situation of January 6 political prisoners. It doesn’t mention them per se, which is all the better because it can allude to similar situations yet unknown, and cover them all. I am something of a sestina watcher, and a few years ago I wrote that “numerous recent variations suggest a period of breakdown for the form,” due to the badness of the poetry produced. I did name a few variants that seemed to be creative successes, but these were all inimitable individual poems. With the sestina sonnet, you may have produced a form that is friendly to other poets, as did Leigh Harrison with the pentina and Marie Ponsot with the tritina. You have probably already encountered Sara Gwen Weaver’s essay, “A Numbers Theory of the Sestina and Similar Repeating Forms,” but if not, it might be worth a look. The sestina sonnet, of course, does not fit into that theory because it adds sonnet-form considerations, but you have explained your method that begins with the sonnet and proceeds sestina-wise. Thanks! Reply Joshua C. Frank May 29, 2023 Wow, Margaret, your compliments mean a lot to me, especially since you rarely give that first one! I hadn’t thought specifically of January 6, but it certainly applies to them. I was thinking of the fact that we have horrors in store that will make that incident look like a slap on the wrist… but it’s nice to know I’ve written the best of the bunch regarding January 6! I love the French forms; Susan, Brian, and I are doing our best to make sure they have their best days ahead of them! I looked up that essay you mentioned (I hadn’t seen it before); anyone who’s interested can see it here: https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/archives/umbrellajournal/TiltArchive/prose/ANumbersTheoryoftheSestin.html The author mentions my algorithm, but never develops it into a sestina sonnet; I did that without ever having seen the concept before. All I did was apply the sestina algorithm to quatrains and a 2-line envoi. I took number theory in college, so permutation theory is quite familiar to me. I’d love to see others use the sestina sonnet and hopefully popularize it among poets. 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Roy Eugene Peterson May 28, 2023 While I agree with the tenor of “Red Flags,” using the word, “Soviet,” is now anachronistic. The flag is now a tricolored striped one of white, blue and red. I applaud the reverence paid to the flag in “Walking by a Baseball Game,” that includes the thoughts of it does not matter if anyone else sees the person in paying respects, but “love of country never dies.” “A Dying Country’s Future,” is an appropriate poem the day before Memorial Day. You are so right about the Texas flag so often flying with the American one. I join you as a fellow Texan and I appreciate your poems. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Roy. I’m glad you appreciate my poems, especially as a fellow Texan. I love how many flags fly around here; my only complaint is that people don’t do a better job of replacing them as they wear out (hence my poem “The Tattered Flag”). When I say “Soviet,” I’m referring to the Soviet Union as it existed from 1922 to 1991. Communist countries to this day, such as China, have a similar red flag, hence the title of the poem. The union of the Cuban flag is red, and most of North Korea’s flag is red as well. Red has always represented Communism, as have other symbols on Communist flags. Given how the modern liberalism that has taken over our country and those that were once part of the Soviet Union is just Communism 2.0, I’m not sure the Soviet Union ever really fell in terms of ideology. I hate to think what version 3.0 might look like… Reply
Russel Winick May 28, 2023 Thanks for the reads, Joshua. Good work. Walking by a Baseball Game really hits home. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Russel. “Walking by a Baseball Game” is a true story; it happened eight years ago. Reply
Shaun C. Duncan May 28, 2023 This is a powerful set of poems, Joshua. The overt patriotism of Americans, particularly conservatives, and their reverence for the symbols of their nation is often regarded with a certain amount of bemusement by foreigners. I’ll admit that I was one of them for a long time but I’ve come to see it as a very beautiful thing (even if I still don’t fully understand it) and it’s heartbreaking to see so many patriotic Americans over the past few years have to come to terms with the fact that the country they love potentially no longer exists. “Walking By A Baseball Game” captures this feeling beautifully. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Shaun. I’m glad I was able to capture that feeling. Is there really less patriotism where you are? That comes as a surprise. I would say the question isn’t why are Americans so patriotic, it’s why aren’t other countries the same way? Of course, I know of many countries that are—the French are extremely proud of everything French, for example (or at least they were when I was there in the 90s, no idea if they still are). I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, my country is like a big extended family. Also, as a Catholic, I believe that love of country is an extension of the commandment to honor one’s parents. You’ve hit it perfectly in saying that the country we love potentially no longer exists, except I’m not even sure about the word “potentially.” It may still exist in some rural areas… Reply
Cynthia Erlandson May 28, 2023 It seems to me that you’ve combined the sestina and sonnet forms cleverly. “And chaos fights order and locks it in prison” is a line that says so much that it almost summarizes the theme. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Cynthia. I’m glad you like that line. The sestina sonnet is really just the sestina algorithm applied to four-line stanzas. Instead of applying the permutation 123456 -> 615243 (or (163542) if you’re using cycle notation) as is usual for a sestina, I’m using 1234 -> 4132 (or (142) in cycle notation). Reply
Joseph S. Salemi May 28, 2023 Patriotism, which is love of one’s country and loyalty to it, is a natural virtue, and in sane societies it is nurtured and cherished. When a country goes terribly wrong, then a patriot is crucified on the cross of native love and his refusal to accept evil. Anti-revolutionary French during the Terror, anti-Nazi Germans during the Third Reich, anti-Communist Russians during the Soviet period, anti-Maoist Chinese during the Cultural Revolution — they all experienced this crucifixion, and it is a frequent occurrence in modern history. My father bled for what the American flag used to stand for, so I will never cease to honor it. But I know that America as an institutional entity is now in the hands of left-liberal globalist scum, whose wealth and power and influence are practically unassailable. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 I agree with everything you’ve said in that comment. We’ve turned into the bad guys we used to fight, even worse in many ways. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant May 28, 2023 Josh, I appreciate, and can relate to, the message in each of your well-crafted poems. The rondelet is particularly powerful with its excellent employment of repetition. What an intriguing form the ‘sestina-sonnet’ is. I like it. I’m wondering whether it should be called a ‘quartina sonnet’, bearing in mind the four repeated words. My favorite is ‘Walking by a Baseball Game’ – it moved me greatly. I had exactly the same feelings when I watched the recent coronation in England. I’ve come to believe that our love of country is far greater than our disdain for the wicked cabals that run it. The country is comprised of many beautiful souls who have had their collective voice stolen by a few greedy, ugly, and powerful thieves. America and the UK are far greater than their current draconian rulers. Josh, thank you for these insightful and thought-provoking poems. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 28, 2023 Thank you, Susan. I’m glad you like them. It’s nice to hear that you were greatly moved by “Walking by a Baseball Game.” I thought of the incident that inspired it when you first described similar feelings about the coronation. I agree that love of country is greater than the wickedness that destroys everything lovable about our countries. As I mentioned in my reply to Cynthia, this form’s algorithm is based on that of the sestina. The quartina’s algorithm uses the permutation 1234 -> 4123 (or (4321) in cycle notation), which doesn’t really lend itself to a sonnet, because you need 4 stanzas to complete the cycle. When I applied the sestina algorithm to 4-line stanzas, I got 3 stanzas and a 2-line envoi, for 14 lines, hence the name “sestina sonnet.” Reply
Brian A Yapko May 29, 2023 Josh, these are four wonderful poems which meditate upon patriotism and its challenges. Your sestina sonnet is not only an innovative form — it provides the perfect structure for your poetic message. And what a message! I’m haunted by the line “A country’s long day has to end with a sunset.” There’s a bleakness here which is unfortunately accurate as all that was once distinctive about America is swallowed up in some nebulous world government (which really means China.) I like your “Walking by a Baseball Game” very much. The feelings you describe are so relatable. One’s love of country can never be completely poisoned. Patriotism lives in the heart as much as the head and the Stars and Stripes will always make me proud, even if it’s relegated to a symbol of what once was, it could still stand for freedom again. For a freedom that I hope will once again be based on courage and dignity rather than its polar opposites. Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 29, 2023 Thank you, Brian. I’ve known since my teens that every great civilization had to fall eventually, just from reading history, but as I’ve seen the craziness of the world escalate these past few years, I’ve come to understand that ours will probably fall within my lifetime, and in some ways, it’s already happened; we’re already at the point where the light is red, and the darkness is close by. I miss when even where we are now still seemed far off. I like that line you mention as well; I felt it summarized the inevitability. “Walking by a Baseball Game” really happened, about 8 years ago. As you can see, I’ve been struggling with this issue for a long time now. I’m glad you found it relatable. Reply
Margaret Coats May 29, 2023 Very rarely do I say, “these are all great,” but this collection shows you as a poet of power, Josh. “Walking By” well versifies an epiphany of realizing how much more there is to a country than its wicked ways. “Texas Pride” demonstrates very important local patriotism–in your case adopted, but patriotism nonetheless. The rondelet is one of the best of its kind, and you show that some of the medieval French kinds may have their best days ahead of them. The sestina is also a French or Provencal kind, with first known example by Arnaut Daniel, but an Italian name due to the achievements of Dante and Petrarch. At the moment your sestina sonnet may be the best poem on the overall situation of January 6 political prisoners. It doesn’t mention them per se, which is all the better because it can allude to similar situations yet unknown, and cover them all. I am something of a sestina watcher, and a few years ago I wrote that “numerous recent variations suggest a period of breakdown for the form,” due to the badness of the poetry produced. I did name a few variants that seemed to be creative successes, but these were all inimitable individual poems. With the sestina sonnet, you may have produced a form that is friendly to other poets, as did Leigh Harrison with the pentina and Marie Ponsot with the tritina. You have probably already encountered Sara Gwen Weaver’s essay, “A Numbers Theory of the Sestina and Similar Repeating Forms,” but if not, it might be worth a look. The sestina sonnet, of course, does not fit into that theory because it adds sonnet-form considerations, but you have explained your method that begins with the sonnet and proceeds sestina-wise. Thanks! Reply
Joshua C. Frank May 29, 2023 Wow, Margaret, your compliments mean a lot to me, especially since you rarely give that first one! I hadn’t thought specifically of January 6, but it certainly applies to them. I was thinking of the fact that we have horrors in store that will make that incident look like a slap on the wrist… but it’s nice to know I’ve written the best of the bunch regarding January 6! I love the French forms; Susan, Brian, and I are doing our best to make sure they have their best days ahead of them! I looked up that essay you mentioned (I hadn’t seen it before); anyone who’s interested can see it here: https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/archives/umbrellajournal/TiltArchive/prose/ANumbersTheoryoftheSestin.html The author mentions my algorithm, but never develops it into a sestina sonnet; I did that without ever having seen the concept before. All I did was apply the sestina algorithm to quatrains and a 2-line envoi. I took number theory in college, so permutation theory is quite familiar to me. I’d love to see others use the sestina sonnet and hopefully popularize it among poets. Reply
