Time is Brief

Eyes shut tight, begging for relief.
Voices dance within my brain.
Eyes shut tight, begging for relief.

This isn’t happening; I am sane.
Mind fills with whispering words.
Voices dance within my brain.

Fluttering in my head like wings of birds,
"We speak the truth, these are not lies."
Mind fills with whispering words.

Songs of destruction and demise,
in fetal pose, I rock with fear.
"We speak the truth, these are not lies."

Hands on ears, refusing to hear.
Strangers seek my spoiled soul.
In fetal pose, I rock with fear.

Persistent pounding weakens control.
Eyes shut tight begging for relief.
Strangers seek my spoiled soul.
Eyes shut tight begging for relief.

The Terzanelle is a great way to drive a theme home. The refrains allow you to repeat those really powerful lines. There is no meter or syllable count dedicated to this form, but each line should be of similar length or metrical count. The rhyme pattern for this form is:

ABA, bCB, cDC, dED, eFE

For the ending stanza, you can choose either:

f, A, F, A or f, F, A, A