Eight

And now here’s another prompt drawn from our archives – and, as usual, optional! Today, let’s try writing triolets. A triolet is an eight-line poem. All the lines are in iambic tetramenter (for a total of eight syllables per line), and the first, fourth, and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines. This means that the poem begins and ends with the same couplet. Beyond this, there is a tight rhyme scheme (helped along by the repetition of lines) — ABaAabAB.

Tilted to the point of tipping
root mass breaking through heavy soil
hunched over a book of clippings
tilted to the point of tipping
Taking off her engagement ring
The girl cried for the loss of all
tilted to the point of tipping
root mass breaking through heavy soil