Zoe – Photo by MCB – 2015 (Zoe is my grand-daughter <3)

in luminescent innocence
she dances on her chubby toes
humming a tune she just made up
punctuated by sweet giggles

tumbling into a slump of joy
in luminescent innocence
wide-eyed wondering why’s and what’s
to feed her curiosity

i could watch her hours on end
play pretending teatime for two
in luminescent innocence
how she captures fully, my heart

on this plane for only three years
how did we manage without her
cute curly top with attitude
in luminescent innocence

kat ~ 7 January 2016

A new poetry form to practice. This one called a Quatern. A Quatern is a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains. It is similar to the Kyrielle and the Retourne. It has a refrain that is in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. A quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme.

line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4

line 5
line 6 (line 1)
line 7
line 8

line 9
line 10
line 11 (line 1)
line 12

line 13
line 14
line 15
line 16 (line 1)

Thank you to Jane Dougherty for this inspiring and beautiful poetry style and challenge. I do hope I did it justice. If you would like to read other Quaterns or try writing one yourself, please visit Jane’s blog by clicking HERE.