Experimenting with form.  This is a bref double, a French form.  No one seems to agree exactly about the rhyme scheme, except that there need to be three rhymes.  Rhymes a and b appear twice in the first three quatrains and then complete the couplet.  Rhyme c ends the first three quatrains.  Let’s see what happens.  (I am choosing o try axbc, xaxc, bxxc, ab).  The children are starting to stir upstairs, so this is a toss-off.

Here.  Hold this, he said.
Then left the room.
And there she stood
holding his stuff, alone.

It bound her to him, you see,
this cord of obligation, this red
bond.  Hold my stuff. And he
was free as a bird.  She should have known,

perhaps, how it could come to no good,
how it would bind her to him.
And he would take no responsibility,
while her heart turned slowly to stone.

Next time she’ll break that thread
before it comes to blood.

 

Gratitude List:
1. When not-so-bad scenarios play out instead of worst-case scenarios
2. Shy boy excited to perform in his end of school-year program this morning
3. How the trees reach out to be noticed in this season–they’re just begging for attention
4. Chickpeas bubbling on the stove
5. People.  I like people.  Resilient, friendly, personable, curious, earnest.  (I know that isn’t the whole picture, but really, often people do rise to the expectations you have of them.)

May we walk in Beauty!