Thursday, April 13, 2017

K is for kyrielle

K is for kyrielle. It is a French form based on the kyrie (Lord, have mercy, which is part of the church liturgy. This poetic form is written in quatrains (four-line stanzas). Each line has eight syllables. It can be written in various rhyme schemes, including aabb or abab. The "b" rhyme includes the fourth line,  which is repeated at the end of each quatrain. How the poem rhymes is up to the poet. In my poem, I chose an aabb rhyme scheme.

The topic of the poem is dementia, an illness that affects mostly elderly people. It is a disease that strikes without mercy. 

Visiting the memory care unit

She clutches a little stuffed bear
As her hand wanders to her hair
She was amazing in her prime
Her lovely mind broken by time.

Shuffling  aimlessly down the hall,
Always watched for fear he will fall,
He ran like the wind in his prime,
His lovely mind broken by time.

Forgetting that her husband died
She awaits him like a young bride.
A golden dancer in her prime,
Her lovely mind broken by time.

Her red anger flashes at night
She will not go without a fight
She expressed strong views in her prime
Her lovely mind broken by time.

This could happen to anyone
The war from which we cannot run
Fighting this is a sharp, steep climb
For lovely minds broken by time.




5 comments:

Marian Allen said...

So sad and so beautiful. How wonderful of you to see the strength and youth within the pain of this ruinous condition. Whenever my elders have to go to the hospital or rehab, I take pictures of them in their prime and talk about their accomplishments or shenanigans to the aides and nurses. You're blessed with compassion and insight.

Jenn Worrell said...

What a beautiful way to express this! Powerful writing!

Click said...

That's a beautiful poem.

Cait @ Click's Clan

S. Lincecum said...

Tormenting, yet beautiful.

Alana said...

This is powerful. The scientists who finally find a treatment for the dementias should be hailed as heroic, and statutes erected in their honor - instead of sports figures.