Rimas Dissolutas
The rimas dissolutas – does it rhyme or not? In each stanza,
there is no rhyme, but each line rhymes with the corresponding line in
subsequent stanzas. All the first lines rhyme, all the second lines rhyme, and
so on. All of the lines are usually comparable length, and there is not a set
number of lines or stanzas. There is sometimes an envoi, a shorter stanza at
the end, and it often rhymes with the end rhymes of some of the later lines in
the stanzas. If the poet has used stanzas with 6 lines, the envoi may be two
lines that rhyme with lines 4 and 5 or lines 5 and 6. The form comes to us from
French troubadours, possibly 12th and 13th centuries, and is a departure from other stricter rhyme
schemes of the day. I haven’t found a strict translation of the words rimas
dissolutas, but it’s not a great leap to dissolute rhyme.
the cat of sadness, by Robert Lee Brewer
the cat of sadness does not purr
late at night anymore or hunt
for creatures to offer up still
half-alive & held in her teeth
oblivious to trembling furr
focused on performing her stunt
& pleasing her king on the hill
who loved her above & beneath
but who left her for a new thrill
as she curled up into a wreath
A Renewal James
Merrill
Having used every subterfuge
To shake you, lies, fatigue, or even that of
passion,
Now I see no way but a clean break.
I add that I am willing to bear the guilt.
You nod assent. Autumn turns windy, huge,
A clear vase of dry leaves vibrating on and
on.
We sit, watching. When I next speak
Love buries itself in me, up to the hilt.
And my own
published in both The Crafty Poet II (Terrapin Books) and Breathe
Here (North Country Press)
The Woods Are Open to
Me Now
After hearing from my
doctor
The
woods are open to me now.
Nothing
to fear in the leaf bed,
there
are no monstrous reveries
to
curdle my muscle or bone.
The
woods now inspire a new vow,
of
accepting the path ahead.
Nothing
hiding behind a tree
Nothing
seeping beneath a stone.
With
no fear in the woods, I plow
on
through the terrors I once fled.
The
dark can no longer take me
to the
tightness I felt alone.
I push
aside a low pine bough
with
new thoughts forming in my head.
No
more plunge into misery.
I know
now, I’m on my way home.
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