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Notes About The Poem

Terzanelle
A terzanelle is a poetic form combining aspects of the villanelle and the terza rima. It is nineteen lines total, with five triplets and a quatrain. The middle line of each triplet stanza is repeated as the third line of the following stanza, and the first and third lines of the initial stanza are the second and final lines of the quatrain; thus, seven of the lines are repeated in the poem. The rhyme scheme and stanzaic structure are as follows (a capitalized letter indicates a line repeated verbatim): A1 B A2, bCB, cDC, dED, eFE, fA1FA2 or (fFA1A2)

Climate Change

The Earth is changing right before our eyes
global warming is melting the ice caps;
observing this shift, we feign our surprise.

Coral reefs are in danger of collapse,
rising waters threaten coastal cities;
global warming is melting the ice caps.

It is too late for government committees
assessing this threat to do anything;
rising waters threaten coastal cities.

We're robbing our children and their offspring;
it's serious; there's no time left for folks
assessing this threat to do anything.

By rejecting climate change as a hoax,
we've called it a conspiracy, and now,
it's serious; there's no time left for folks.

And despite all the pooh-poohing, somehow,
the Earth is changing right before our eyes.
We've called it a conspiracy, and now,
observing this shift, we feign our surprise.

angstanxietyenvironmenthow iterzanelle

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