Kyrielle

The kyrielle is a French four-line stanza poem—with 8 syllables per line—that has a refrain in the fourth line. Often, there is a rhyme scheme of aabb, abab, aaab, or abcd

Doubt we must; severe punishment
Ought to scare us; it doesn’t have to
Be complicated. Tournaments
Bother us for shrill cockatoos,
Illusive trade for sediment,
A clean, filtered dreg to come through
Maladjusted. A snap judgment
Of no significance, Virtue

Declaring customs, we only
Opine for feathers and leather,
Giving alms for pears certainly,
As the Algonquin consider,
No treaties traded openly.
An idol made my church father
Love me with his wampum faintly
Effortless in cold weather.

Don’t cry for me Argentina,
Onerously the earth will bleed.
Miles of inroads, rivers’ donna.
Escape this tearful pleasure, feed
New born Tecumseh, you duenna
I. Why talk of Cleveland’s hundred?
Call Dizzy for Catalina,
A dressing, an island, and speed

Down the coast come hell or high water.
On wings of eagles we need these
Listening peoples for a letter,
Care of Indira, care of Gandhi.
Eat those origins for greater
Themes, our monarch danaids.
Sucking tongue to flatter daughter
Almost ready for Euclides