Was fascinated by Robert Lee Brewer’s description of rondeaus today, so decided to step up to the challenge and posted two. Here they are:
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I HOLD MY BREATH
I hold my breath as I check mail
Wait for the cruel words to impale
my fragile writer soul so low:
it shudders, rails against the blow.
Yet I will triumph, I’ll prevail!
I start again, revise & quail
as my poor baby soon sets sail
into the ether, tidal flow –
I hold my breath.
An answer comes: they like my tale
but want some changes (“do prevail!”)
so back to editing below
and next month I will let it go…
and hold my breath.
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OH RONDEAU WOE
Oh rondeau woe afflicts me now
as angst and sweat drip from my brow
and once again I wonder why
self-torture so appeals to my
twisted need to figure how.
Because this form does not allow
straying from the path, I vow
to master it before I die
Oh rondeau woe.
I grit my teeth and on I plow
trying to find rhymes somehow,
but my syllables go awry
I curse the French then start to cry
so to this form I do bid ciao…
Oh rondeau woe.