Ae Freislighe

An Irish form of poetry:

• Quatrain stanzas (4-line stanzas)
• 7 syllables per line
• Lines 1 and 3 rhyme together, but they rhyme as three syllables (xxa)
• Lines 2 and 4 rhyme together as two syllables (xb)
• The final syllable, word, or line of the entire poem should be the same as the entire poem begins (the poetic term for this is dunadh)
• Poem can be as concise as one stanza and scale out as far as a poet wishes to push it

Here’s my humble (second) attempt:

A Place to Hold Me Inside

Remember the beginning
when you held my heart, beating
In your hand, so unsettling…
both on the edge of needing

everything. I uncovered
myself, laid bare at high-tide
and your harbor discovered
a place to hold me inside.

I wasn’t going to do the A-Z Challenge, but I decided I should do something to commemorate National Poetry Month, so…I’m going to attempt a poetic form every day that begins with each letter of the alphabet.

This one was tough, but I like form poetry that makes me puzzle things together and think. I’m sure it’s not a fabulous poem…I cheated a bit with “high-tide,” and I’m not positive I managed the last requirement on the list (because I didn’t quite understand it), but I gave it my best go. This is the second attempt, as my first poem sucked.

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