Contracted Sonnet
A contracted sonnet is an eleven-line variation of the traditional sonnet form. It typically follows a rhyme scheme of either ABCABCDCBDC or ABCABCDBCDC. The contracted sonnet is a shorter form, created by truncating the standard fourteen-line sonnet, similar to the curtal sonnet. Its reduced length and modified rhyme scheme give it a distinctive, compressed structure while maintaining the emotional intensity and thematic depth associated with sonnets. Sonnets usuall consist of ten syllables per line. The following example is a version with only eight syllables per line.
Masks of Self
I am tortured not by belief,
but by impossibility
of disbelieving—unjust fate.
We wear countless masks, like a thief
hiding our sensibility.
Then we attempt to unmask, too late,
while caught in a world of deceit
with no reliability,
disguising further, we abate
our true selves and fall in defeat,
tortured by our own self-hate.
WoPoLi 
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