I've just tried writing one. It's very much a first draft, created in the last hour or so, and I know I'm not supposed to be posting my own poems here, but I'm doing so only to ask whether or not this poem complies with the technical requirements, not whether it's any good. Here it is:
TERZANELLE
You were a happy child? Oh, lucky man!
I guess you're not a poet, though. No pain
to exorcize. The devil always can
be made into a poem. Was Mom insane?
Too bad. Your life is long, your art is short.
I guess you're not a poet, though. No pain
to hold like roses in your hand and court
the muse. She can't be won for any less.
Too bad. Your life is long, your art is short,
and you've been left with cloying happiness.
You should have suffered, paid the price and bribed
the muse. She can't be won for any less.
My problem is great art is circumscribed
by more constraints than misery, and though
I duly suffered, paid the price and bribed
the right officials, I've no poems to show.
You were a happy child? Oh, lucky man!
You're not the one for me to ask, though, how
to exorcize the devil. If I can.
[This message has been edited by Roger Slater (edited January 07, 2002).]