The Terzanelle is a poetry type, which is a combination of the villanelle and the terza rima forms. It is a 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking triplets/tercets plus a concluding quatrain in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. The middle line of each triplet is repeated, reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center-line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain. Each line of the poem should be the same metrical length.
Was It by Chance?
Was it by chance
You’d understand?
Was it by chance?
Just for today
Someone was here,
You’d understand.
How would you know
With foreign ears?
Someone was here
Offering love
Within our doors
With foreign ears
Extending hands
Beyond a voice
Within our doors,
A kindred voice.
Was it by chance
Your first day here?
Was it by chance?
A muslim woman came to our church yesterday. She spoke very little English. We have a small congregation. Was it by chance that we had two other people visiting us also for the first time who could speak some Arabic? What are the chances?
You do those great things with words, Donna. I truly believe that it isn't by chance, that someone or something is watching over us. How lovely of you to write about it and help us all see the connection.
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