K is for Kyrielle

A Kyrielle is a French poetic form. It originated in medieval times and is based on the kryie eleison (Lord have mercy) portion of the church liturgy. The poem is written in four-line stanzas, with each line being eight syllables.There can be various rhyming schemes. For my poem, I chose the AaBb scheme. The last line of the first stanza is considered to be the refrain, and it is repeated as the last line of each stanza.

Creating Art

Is art about the tools I use?
Brushes, paints, paper that I choose
Can I share visions from my heart
How do I start creating art?

Is art about the world I see,
an old cat, a human, a tree,
a busy store, a shopping cart,
how do I start creating art?

Is art about the songs I hear,
moving me to joy, love, a tear?
In harmony, each has a part
in helping me to create art.

Is art about the world I dream?
Disjointed images, a scream
fragmented colors break apart
when I start to create art.

Is love what art is all about,
those soft, sighing words that we spout
in a dream place we cannot chart
when we try to create art.

Does art encompass everything,
a dance, a mad spinning swing?
falling leaves, things that fall apart
It’s all about creating art.

8 thoughts on “K is for Kyrielle”

  1. Does the fact that this is a French poetic form mean that most of the poems that exist in at are French/

  2. I love history, and matters medieval in particular. Thank you so much for teaching me something I did not know. What a wonderful poem! You have a good eye for detail. Happy A to Z!

  3. Nick #thisyearinmusic

    I like this. Very similar to haiku's, but for some reason I've always liked the conciseness of haiku's more, but this is very nice.

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