ZaniLa Rhyme

The ZaniLa Rhyme is a form created by Laura Lamarca. It has a minimum of three stanzas and no maximum poem length. There are 4 lines per stanza and the rhyme scheme for this form is abcb, with a syllable count of 9/7/9/9 per stanza.

The 3rd line is written as a conjunction and this line repeats at the 3rd line in each stanza, but each time the order is switched up. For example, if your 3rd line is: Make me belong and sing me a song, then you'll repeat it in the 2nd stanza as: Sing me a song and make me belong.

xxxxxxxxA
xxxxxxB
xxxC1xxxxC2
xxxxxxxxB

xxxxxxxxD
xxxxxxE
xxxC2xxxxC1
xxxxxxxxE

I gotta tell you. This form was a pain in the butt. That second line, which is only seven syllables, was a killer. And then of course there’s the third line, which initially I forgot was internally rhymed and when it has to make sense when switched back and forth . . . My advice to anyone attempting this form is to find your third line first, and construct your poem around it.


Defeated

Darkness falling in a shroud as I
Chase the words, but they escape.
I yearn to write but the words aren’t right
I stare at the page, no poem takes shape.

It’s late at night but I can’t give up
There’s a poem I must set free
The words aren’t right but I yearn to write
Oh, why has the muse has deserted me?

As first light is appearing in the east
The poem is beyond my ken
I yearn to write but the words aren’t right
I am ready to set down my pen.