Are you backed in a corner
Gripping the hammer in your hand
Waiting to see where your swing will land?
Are you backed in a corner?
.
Gripping the hammer in your hand
Like everything’s a nail.
Is there something you could tell
Gripping the hammer in your hand?
.
Like everything’s a nail.
Boy, don’t misunderstand
That your life is in your hands
Like everything’s a nail.
.
Boy, don’t misunderstand
The damage you could do
Like what was done to you.
Boy, don’t misunderstand.
.
Are you backed in a corner
Gripping the hammer in your hand
Waiting to see where your swing will land?
Are you backed in a corner?
***
A catena rondo is a poem where the lines of each stanza are interwoven creating an interesting circular feel. Each stanza has four lines with a rhyme scheme of AbbA. The first line of the stanza is repeated as the fourth line, and the second line of the stanza is repeated as the first line of the next stanza. The last stanza of the poem is a word for word repetition of the first stanza.
I learned of this poetic form while reading David’s page the Skeptic’s Kaddish. He wrote a very nice catena rondo, “Pulsing Auroras or the Child Claps.” You can check out his poem here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2022/05/12/pulsing-auroras-or-child-claps/