Poetic Form 88: Ovillejo

 

Doubt

What word do you fear in the dark?

Doubt, loud and stark.

Why do your hands shake as you write?

I am finite.

When will there be a sense of joy?

Just a decoy.

Words fall from open wounds. Nothing

stops the harassment echoing 

between the blue lines, narrowing

doubt, loud and stark. I am finite, just a decoy.

Poetic Form #88: Ovillejo

The ovillejo form is a Spanish form popularized by Miguel de Cervantes 

(1547-1616). This 10-line form consists of three rhyming couplets 

and a quatrain. The first line of each couplet is 8 syllables long, presenting 

a question that the second line (3 or 4 syllables) responds to as an answer

or an echo. The quatrain has a cddc rhyme pattern. The final line combines 

lines 2, 4, and 6 together.

The form looks like this:

Line 1: a rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 2: a rhyme in 3-4 syllables

Line 3: b rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 4: b rhyme in 3-4 syllables

Line 5: c rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 6: c rhyme in 3-4 syllables

Line 7: c rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 8: d rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 9: d rhyme in 8 syllables

Line 10: (Line 2) (Line 4) (Line 6)