A Living Villanelle 


Come here and sit beside me for a spell
Take an imaginary rocking chair
Perhaps you'd like to share a villanelle

It's obvious you've got a tale to tell
You were born somewhere—and you lived somewhere
Come here and sit beside me for a spell

We'll neither talk of heaven nor of hell
We need not even say a proper prayer
Perhaps you'd like to hear a villanelle

The truth resounds around us like a bell
It echoes as it vibrates in the air
Come here and sit beside me for a spell

Yesterday — when you weren't feeling well
You thought at first your pain was just a scare
And then you vanished— 

Your body had become an empty shell
Accepting that, you left it lying there
Come here and sit beside me for a spell
It's time to find another villanelle