A View of Love (Terzanelle)

Love is like a rose;
Beautiful, with a razor edge
similar to an eagle in repose.

By picking the rose you accept the pledge
to love with all your heart someones
beauty, even their razor edge.

Don't be caught unawares from the start--
you will meet many thorns, along your path
to love with all your heart.

Placed on the stem, like points on a graph
lie razor sharp claws, ready to bolster or maim.
You will meet many thorns along your path

upward to reach the petals, glistening with drops of heavenly rain.
But just below this portrait of beauty
lie razor sharp claws, ready to bolster or maim.

A crucible unending, with many ups and downs;
Love is like a rose.
A portrait of beauty,
similar to an eagle in repose.

This poem is in the form of a Terzanelle, which is a form of a Villanelle. It is made up of 5 triplets and one quartet, where the 1st and 3rd lines rhyme, and the middle line becomes the last line of the next stanza. In the quartet, the second and fourth lines are the 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza, and the third line of the quartet is the middle line from the stanza before it.

&copy Joshua Bryant Cole