Storm Watch (a terzanelle)

My rusty gate hangs on its hinge.
and swings in the warm evening breeze,
while I watch it turn with a twinge.

Under the arms of my pear trees
a stillness lies heavy and dark.
Dread hovers on the evening breeze.

Electric, the air tastes of sparks
like firework nights in July.
The stillness lies heavy and dark.

I hold my breath, watch as the sky
clouds over — a sickly, pea-green.
Like firework nights in July,

A thunderclap bangs — like a screen.
The weatherman warns it will storm,
these clouds are a sickly, pea-green.

I shiver as thunderheads form.
The rusty gate groans on its hinge.
Warns me, soon this weather will storm,
while I watch it turn with a twinge.

—–

POETIC FORM:

Terzanelle combines the lyricism of the terza rima with the repetition of the villanelle to make a powerful one-two punch in only 19 lines. The traditional stance on the terzanelle is that the lines should be written in a consistent iambic meter, but there are plenty of contemporary terzanelles that just aspire to keep the lines a consistent length throughout.

—–

FORM DIAGRAM:

A1-
B-
A2-

b-
C-
B-
c-
D-
C-
d-
E-
D-
e-
F-
E-
f-
A1-
F-
A2-

—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

“For today’s prompt, write a swing poem. Sure, there are park swings and mood swings; there’s swing music and swing dancing; and there are swingers. Some people swing one way; others swing another. In politics, there are swing votes and swing states. And many people have swung a bat, an ax, and/or a hammer in their lifetimes.”