April 26, 2018

  • Cough

    Cough discreetly

    Look at me, please

    You see me here

    Like a deer caught

    In clear headlight

    Freeze in flight mode

    No fight left, this

    Plan was his, I’m

    Invisible

    Life was full once

    No dull moments

    Now a fence that

    Opens not stands

    Like steel bands, ‘round

    The sand remains

    Of heart painful

    Met bane and broke

    This bad joke makes

    Me choke and cough

     

    This poem is brought to you by the NPM Scavenger Hunt Prompt #12: Cough. The form is a Than Bauk. The rules are a bit confusing, but they make sense once you see the poem laid out.

    There are 3 lines per stanza, and four syllables per line. The last syllable of line 1 rhymes with the 3rd syllable of line 2 and the 2nd syllable of line 3. The 3rd line of one stanza is also the first line of the next stanza, so in stanza 2, the last syllable of line 3 rhymes with the 3rd syllable of line 4 and the 2nd syllable of line 5. For stanza 3, the last syllable of line 5, rhymes with the 3rd syllable of line 6, and the 2nd syllable of line 7. And so forth.

Comments (3)

  • The form is wonderfully wrought. The topic on the other hand is painful.

    • This is actually my favorite poem I wrote for the Scavenger Hunt, so I'm glad it finally got a comment. Ha! Krysten thought it should be put to music. I told her it's too bad I gave away my piano. :-D

  • Someone coughing without covering their mouth makes me freeze like a deer in headlights, that's for sure! :D

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