Max Writes: This is a Terza Rima , meaning third rhyme , because it is in three line stanzas and the middle line of each stanza must rhyme with the first and third line of the following stanza. It is finished with a two line envoi which rhymes with the middle line of the previous stanza. I thought (this) was rather clever in that the rhyme was not, at first glance, obvious:

DEATH MUSIC

While Father loved her nothing could go wrong

He left. Boers killed him. How could she forget?

Her mother played the cello all day long,

Elgar, Saint-Saens,  solo, in quartet,

Ignored her child’s sky blue eyes, sapling grace.

Their money dwindled. Soon they were in debt.

Then marriage brought smiles to the young girl’s face:

A doctor. middle-aged, distinguished, kind.

Her dreary world became a joyful place.

For ten years. But the dark pain lurked close behind.

A sudden stroke, her loving husbands gone.

She owned gold rings, fine glass, yet lost her mind.

A cello there? Pavlova’s Dying Swan?

She sank down to the floor. The gas hissed on.

                                        Pat Lucas