Category Archives: Terzanelle

June 30, 2020

selfish jerks!

By Kat Myrman

I’m disappointed, furious…horrified by my country’s response to COVID-19! Our leaders act like it’s an inconvenience. That ignoring it will just make it go away. They refuse to take responsibility, to model behavior that will help slow the spread; they refuse to accept science and the recommendations of experts. Meanwhile the country’s numbers of new cases are rising, the rest of the world is shutting their doors to us. I don’t blame you. The US is a horrible place to live right now. UGH. UGH. UGH. Anyhow…just getting this off my chest. Poetry is therapy you know…. Hope you are staying safe and for goodness sake, wear a mask and keep your distance when you leave your house. SMH!!

selfish jerks!

your heartlessness is on display
when you refuse to wear a mask
your heartlessness is on display

‘cause nobody should need to ask
it should be common courtesy
when you refuse to wear a mask

claiming your right to liberty
it shows you’re just a selfish jerk
it should be common courtesy

yet you don’t care who you might hurt
you’ve death and sickness on your head
it shows you’re just a selfish jerk

it’s stupid, you could slow the spread
your heartlessness is on display
you’ve death and sickness on your head
your heartlessness is on display

~kat

Today’s poetry form is called a Terzanelle:

The Terzanelle is a poetry type which is a combination of the villanelle and the terza rima forms. It is a 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking triplets/tercets plus a concluding quatrain in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. The middle line of each triplet is repeated, reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain. The rhyme and refrain scheme for the triplets is as follows: 

1. A
2. B
3. A

4. b
5. C
6. B

7. c
8. D
9. C

10. d
11. E
12. D

13. e
14. F
15. E

Ending Type 1:

16. f
17. A 
18. F
19. A

Ending Type 2:

16. f
17. F
18. A
19. A

Each line of the poem should be the same metrical length.

21 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

June 2, 2020

mother to mother

By Kat Myrman

mother to mother

I can’t begin to understand
the everyday of life for you
I can’t begin to understand
I want to help, what should I do?
my privilege blinds me to your plight
the everyday of life for you
the fear that you must feel each night,
each time your children go outside
my privilege blinds me to your plight
your suffering, the tears you’ve cried
enough’s enough, the time has come
each time your children go outside
that all our kids are safe, not some
I hope you know I stand with you
enough’s enough, the time has come
for me to listen to your truth
I can’t begin to understand
I hope you know I stand with you
I can’t begin to understand

~kat

For today, a Terzanelle. Sculpture: Melancolie in Bronze by Artist, Albert György located in Geneva, Switzerland, photographed by Mary Friona-Celani of Buffalo, NY.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

April 8, 2019

The Bottom Line – NaPoWriMo #8

By Kat Myrman

The Bottom Line

at the end of the day
if you’re still herding cats
at the end of the day

in light of the fact that
with your ducks in a row
if you’re still herding cats

check the box, good to go
jump the shark if you dare
with your ducks in a row

keep your balls in the air
while you fish or cut bait
jump the shark if you dare

don’t ignore drop dead dates
be an agent of change
while you fish or cut bait

paradigms rearrange
be an agent of change
at the end of the day
at the end of the day

~kat

For  NaPoWriMo #8 Prompt: think about the argot of a particular job or profession, and see how you can incorporate it into a metaphor that governs or drives your poem, a Terzanelle. It’s a cross between a Terza Rima and a Villanelle. By the way, did you guess what profession I focused on? If you guessed business you would be a right. What can I say, the business world sucks up most of my life.  Here’s a link to the jargon used above and then some, with suggestions on how you can STOP using these worn out lines! ;).

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

November 12, 2017

Through the Breach of Tar and Pebbles

By Kat Myrman

‘He made the world to be a grassy road

Before her wandering feet.’ -W.B. Yeats

Through the Breach of Tar and Pebbles

iron spires wrapped in nettles
splintery oak and knobby pine
iron spires wrapped in nettles

facades eroding, lost to time
penetrating every crevice
splintery oak and knobby pine

tendrils snaking ‘round a trellis
ghosted spaces, gently greening
penetrating every crevice

vibrant once again and teeming
blooms emerge and bumbles fly
ghosted spaces, gently greening

traces of human touch, disguised
Gaia’s voice calls forth the living
blooms emerge and bumbles fly

bursting forth from clay forgiving
iron spires wrapped in nettles
Gaia’s voice calls forth the living
iron spires wrapped in nettles

~kat

A Terzanelle for Jane Dougherty’s A Month With Yeats -Day Twelve Poetry Challenge inspired by the verse above from Yeats’ poem, ‘The Rose of the World’.

15 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

April 24, 2017

Marginalia Mania – NaPoWriMo 2017 #24

By Kat Myrman

Whatever in the world were they thinking?
These maniacal manuscript scribes of old,
Whatever in the world were they thinking?

Fantastical tales their scribblings told;
creatures and beasties, some seeking revenge,
These maniacal manuscript scribes of old,

Nature revolting against maids and men,
Snails, flying monkeys, dogs, lions, cats
Creatures and beasties, some seeking revenge

Stranger than strange and that is a fact
Obviously it was someone’s worst nightmare,
Snails, flying monkeys, dogs, lions, cats

Elephants, bears and violent hares
It’s all quite odd, I’m sure you’d agree…
Obviously, it was someone’s worst nightmare

If there is a message, what could it be?
Whatever in the world were they thinking?
It’s all quite odd, I’m sure you’d agree…
Whatever in the world were they thinking?

~kat
{NaPoWriMo 2017 #24: to wrote a poem about Marginalia…very bizarre illustrations of medieval manuscripts. I chose a Terzanelle to explore this prompt. See other illustrations by googling “marginalia” and clicking on images.}

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

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