Villanelle

  Spontaneous Conjugal Combustion ---a villanelle He simply couldn't turn the other cheek On ceaseless babble drowning out the game. He caved to scorching fits of crimson pique. He smoldered, snapped, then hollered like a freak--- Sparks flared and flew; his words were far from tame. She simply couldn't turn...

  When Asked: “What’s Your Favorite Season?”   ---a villanelle I can’t decide which season I like best; they all have hallmarks that I love—can’t pick. Whichever time of year I’m truly blessed. There’s spring, when birds begin to build their nests, and all can once more go out for...

  The Face At night, surreptitiously, it emerges out of the TV screen, or when the light bulb's put to rest, its wave of horror surges from darkened corners, weakening my sight. It foams up in the bathing tub, assails my morning mind that's fairly free of thoughts. It smirks...

  Grave New Globe   I. Lair ---a pantoum You said that owning nothing was a blessing. You whipped our worldly wealth and worth away. You told us that regressing meant progressing To greener grass where sunbeams saved the day. You whipped our worldly wealth and worth away. You locked...

  The Truth Won’t Die ---a villanelle for Charlie Kirk They clung to hate and jealousy and lies, While he spoke words that could have set them free. They tried to kill the truth but truth won’t die. At first they used profanity and cries Of outrage while debating angrily....

  Parroting the Party Line   i. The Chorus of Consensus ---a triolet The talking heads squawk on and on. From dawn the hawks and parrots pound. They harp and hammer---LOUD and l o n g. The talking heads squawk on and on. They shape the sheep---a spellbound throng Ensorcelled...

. Shackled I crave a morning hit when I rise up, A trifle touch to take the edge away To spur me on to get my coffee cup. Don’t talk while I eat breakfast. Go away. I want a bitty bit of my sweet drug. I do my chores and...

. On the Epstein Files Debacle ---a villanelle Where are those awful Epstein files? It doesn’t matter left or right! Who are those sordid pedophiles? We need a cleanup on this aisle, From desk to void, they’ve taken flight, Where are those awful Epstein files? They think they’re fooling us...

. Simply Chilling . I. A Boring Villanelle My humdrum life has been a constant bore--- An unembellished scene of somber tone. Monotony is coursing through its core. My listless weekends whisper, never roar. They lack in luster to the sober bone. My humdrum life has been a constant bore....

. Never Time to Spare ---a villanelle My daughter, I am watching you with love for I’ve been there, When dishes overflow the sink and books are everywhere, When everyday seems just the same with never time to spare. I see you take a breath and smile and separate a...

. I Would Say Yes ---a villanelle for Larry on our 36th Anniversary We were young and rather stupid then, But still I see that we were meant to be. I would say yes a thousand times again. From the first we’ve been the best of friends; Life was simple...

. Clueless ---a villanelle How can I tell what is and isn’t true In daffy days that stupefy the wise? I’m sifting through the chaos for a clue. As brain cells dwindle to a fruitless few All down to AI’s messianic rise, How can I tell what is and isn’t...

. Since You’ve Been at My Side ---a villanelle Embraced by love, since you’ve been at my sideI’ve found the strength to hope for better days,As if uplifted by a rising tide. When feeling lost, with you my faithful guide,I’ve found my way through detours and delaysEmbraced by love, since...

. Voyage Among the Ancients "Tread softly, for here you stand On miracle ground…" ---Lawrence Durrell, "On Ithaca Standing" ( 1937) The Juno anchors, docks. We disembark. Each landfall’s an Odyssean surprise. Uncanny myths have left their canny mark. These islands are ruin-studded, rocky, stark. To wander is to feel...

. Who Are You and Who Am I ---a villanelle Who are you and who am I That you fill my life with light And for me you chose to die. I have fallen from on high, I am foolish, you are wise, Who are you and who am I?...

. Druthers I’ve never warmed to the absurd idea That I should lean toward being what I ain’t. I’m more inclined to move to North Korea Than hanker to become a martyred saint. I want to live an unencumbered life And have some say in making my own rules; I’ll...

. Gossiping Hinges Some think we hinges only squeak __because we seek __an oily drop __to make us stop, but hinges gossip day and night, __our message, quite __distinctive. We, __with raucous glee, say 'hi' to hinges down the street __we'd like to meet, __or squawk a song __for sing-a-long....

. The Vice Worse than the addiction of a smoker, And harder to get over than cocaine, More drawing than to gamblers their poker Is a vice that never ends the game. It’s worse than the attraction of a hooker And easier to fall into its claws. If Death came...

. Mr. Bluebird Your spirit rose before I spied your form. It dulled the winter sting and stilled the storm. Your warming warble quelled the bitter chill--- __A merry trill. I saw you perched upon a leafless limb--- A feathered chorister of crystal hymn. Your pristine chirrup sliced through ire...

. Piazza della Signoria, Florence: February 7, 1497 Savonarola gets up off his knees (much contact with the ground has formed a welt) and lights the bonfire of the vanities. His purpose is to purge the city’s sleaze. The virgin in that painting is too svelte. Savonarola rises from his...

. Pearls or Swine? Pray show me how to tell a pearl from swine. I have a thirst for sanity to slake. I seek a clue---a firm not fluid sign To steer me from the sway of all that’s fake. While Einsteins whine and eggheads bellyache, As boundaries blur and...

. Elusive Illusive Art Where are the pure, illusive works of artthat bubble upward from the deep unknown?Where in this world are worlds Art sets apart? Duct tape? A banana fresh from the cart?Renoir would recoil and Monet would moan.Where are the pure, illusive works of art? A gallery is...

. A Hero in My Head Though never even in the war he loomed A hero there.  At least in my blond head, Our father braved it out where Jap planes zoomed And zapped his buddies.  All but him were doomed To bit part deaths bespattered with blood red. Though...

. Enduring Sight Our blindest heroes walk among us, here, where legendary blindness gives us sight. King Oedipus still lives, and so does Lear in texts that draw their distant fates too near by pulling us through pages of their plight. Our blindest heroes walk among us, here, though they...

. A Vacillating Villanelle On Perception  "Understanding the world for a man is reducing it to the human, stamping it with his seal. The cat’s universe is not the universe of the anthill." ---Albert Camus Whatever life perceives, life will receive. The butterfly sees ultraviolet light. For us, what we...

. Loose Me! “Loose him, and let him go.” ---John 11.44 O loose me, Jesus! Jesus, set me free from all that binds my soul and blinds my way. Unwrap the shrouds of death that cling to me! Let every shade of doubt enlightened be, the gloom of night bathed...

. When Your Foe Is Perilously Strong When your foe is perilously strong It mightn’t be too preposterous or wrong To let him think that you’re a friend of his. If you’re a minority and somewhat weak There is no shame at first in being meek When your foe is perilously strong....

. Over the Hill Now that you’re "over the hill," Relax. Enjoy the view. Life’s a beach, so chill. Work? You’ve had your fill. It’s time to just do you; And now that you’re over the hill, You’ve better ways to fill The coming days. Your new Life’s a beach,...

. Cicada Serenade Boys hang their beat on the heat of the summer. Sticky days twang with their thick, tinny ring. Banshee crescendos and thrums from each drummer Shiver mesquites where the mockingbirds sing. Noons throb and drone with the buzz of winged minstrels Crooning a tune of cacophonous zeal....

. Autumn Fades The orange leaves decay to crinkling gray, And sunsets sink and fade the clouds to black. “You’ll see them all in Heaven,” so they say. The decades start to dwindle, day by day. Time whips the weary world along its track. The orange leaves decay to crinkling...

. Stolen Valor ---a poem in unheroic couplets Osama used his wives as human shields When being hunted down by Navy Seals; Bruce Ismay engineered Titanic’s fail Then slipped into a lifeboat ‘neath a veil. When Jefferson Davis faced Union duress He stole away in makeup and a dress. In...

. Cracks in the Ground Today the mourning parish bells have pealed. Men broke the dirt with family gathered round, And sang the songs of Heaven while we kneeled. __Now we make these cracks in the ground. I stand atop that hill of graven stones. Before me sits the aging...

. Second Chances Just know that you’ve been staked a second chance At any time the future’s looking muddy. Put on your shoes and socks, and join the dance. Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, askance, Pretending you can’t work for anybody Who thinks you’ve not been staked a...

. I Need My Coffee  I need my coffee; don’t get in the way Of that which wakes me up and makes me tick. Addicted? Yes. I’ll quit another day. I’ve work to do; on task I need to stay. My morning  cup of Joe gives me that kick. I...

. A Console Table after a Google entry A console table in the entryway __Provides a focus for a guest Inside your home: a welcome, you might say. A strong impression’s vital to convey, __And for this purpose I suggest A console table in the entryway. Style mixed with function...

. Endless Dreaming a villanelle I lunge ahead in bed and start to scream. The nightmare’s end is far; I’m still inside A dream within a dream within a dream. I fall out my front door at heights extreme (Since now my house sits on a mountainside); I lunge ahead...

. . Militant Books Marshaled ranks of silent books Formed on shelves as in brigade, Fill the wooden dusty nooks Waiting for their next parade. Untamed spirits hide inside, Lurking out of watcher’s sight, Feeding off a soldier pride, Waiting for the well-loved fight. Leather armor fading dull, Nameplates wearing...

. Selling Short The winter wind’s a shot across your brow, An addend to the sense of deficit You wrestle with inside the here and now. You’re happy only in the preterit Or future tense—because you hate the cold And you believe a sleight of handy grammar Can save you. ...

. Betrayal a villanelle Today she spied the shadow of a snake Slither through the spreading family tree--- A curse her startled heart finds hard to take. She heard this serpent hiss. Though wide awake A nightmare flared with fanged reality. Today she spied the shadow of a snake. She watched the burdened branches bend...

. Saturn "When we have shuffled off this mortal coil" —Shakespeare "According to medieval thought, the worst planet was Saturn,  sponsor of death, destruction, darkness, and disaster." —Michael Ward When Saturn and his choking rings complete their toils, Malign, diseased senescence, smirking au revoir, Are we to shortly shuffle off...