Terzanelle at twilight
Aparna Raghunath

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Suspended twixt day and night
With the evening breezes singing -
The magic hour of twilight.

The earth and sky are listening,
The world is at peace
With the evening breezes singing

Twilight, the hour of ease;
All Nature wants to rest
The world is at peace.

Time to return to the nest
As the night time gathers around
All Nature wants to rest

By the fireside, prayers abound
It's time to sing the Vesper
As the night time gathers around

The breezes benediction whisper
Suspended twixt day and night
It's time to sing the Vesper
In the magic hour of twilight

Footnotes:
The terzanelle is a modified villanelle. It uses the terza rima's interlocked
rhyme pattern, but fits the villanelle form of five triplets and a quatrain. In addition, the middle line of the 1st stanza becomes the third line of the next stanza, and so on. Because the repeated line changes and the rhyme sounds change (according to terza rima structure) the terzanelle is a less obsessive poem than the villanelle whose repetition can be overpowering. A terzanelle's repetition is more subtle and can give the poem a lush texture that a harsh repeater-poem cannot do. Terzanelle's are difficult to write, but fun to play with.