Poetry Sisters Write Terzanelles

The challenge set for us this month was to write a terzanelle. The terzanelle is a 19-line poetic form that combines the interlocking rhyme and flow of terza rima with the repeating refrains of the villanelle. You can learn more about the form at Writer's Digest. We tacked on the added constraint of using the words slight and might as end rhymes somewhere in the poem.

I came into our Sunday Zoom meeting having written nothing. I had at least reviewed the requirements of the form. Inspired by a talk Matt Cordell gave at the university earlier in the week, I couldn't stop thinking about owls. Here's what I ended up with.

A Piece of Darkness

Beneath the moon, a stirring faint and slight
becomes a question on the wooded hill
where shadows gather all their hidden might

The leaves begin to shiver, then grow still
as branches yield their secrets to the breeze—
the question lingers on the wooded hill

A piece of darkness loosens from the trees
and slips beyond the moon's uncertain glow
while branches yield their secrets to the breeze

It crosses through the fields that lie below
where frost has silvered every blade of grass
and slips beyond the moon's uncertain glow

Its shadow fades as clouds begin to pass
and leaves no more than silence in the air
where frost has silvered every blade of grass

And still its question haunts the branches there
beneath the moon, a whisper faint and slight
the trees hold fast what darkness will not share
where shadows gather all their hidden might

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2026. All rights reserved.

You can read the poems my Poetry Sisters have written at the links below.

• Tanita Davis
• Mary Lee Hahn
• Sara Lewis Holmes
  
• Laura Purdie Salas
• Liz Garton Scanlon

Would you like to try the next challenge? Our prompt for November has us writing to the prompt "The Year As a _____". You can learn more about the prompt in this post by Tabatha Yeatts. Are you in? If you are, you’ve got a month to craft your creation(s), then share your offering with the rest of us on November 27th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems! 

I hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Jone Rush MacCulloch. Happy Poetry Friday all!