“Villanelle For Our Time” Assignment

“Villanelle For Our Time” Assignment

[Bartleby’s Poetry Corner]

Assignment: meditate upon the FR Scott poem Villanelle for our Time, and then write a limerick, a sonnet, and a villanelle.

Limerick

That brotherhood that we had sought
with darklong, with smooth swampish thought
While we skiffed in pole-plops between
twisted trunks of swollen chords
Flakey bark ‘neath lichen hoards:
We learnt slowly to be less mean

Villanelle

Makita’s springing spine will throw
Her churning collie/beagle paws
Across the stretching sandy flow.

She loves to thunder to and fro
While wind and wave turn sound to gauze
Makita’s sprightly spine must throw

Her careening leaning tongue-out glow,
Her frolic wide-eyed spirit’s awes
Across a cool-earth sandy flow

What does carefree joy only know?
In service a wise ancient cause,
Her spine will oscillate to throw

A short-haired, short-legged, short-lived low,
Oft lonely mix of heart and maw–
All spaded, and with ‘naught to show–
Across the sands, within the flow.

Sonnet

At carnival, bright colored lights afloat,
crepe lanterns slide quick across
dark waters flat and quiet in the choke
of smooth old stone walls round our village floss.

At carnival, in winter cool and calm,
in mild clime, in peaceful, gentle time
the Good is easy like an open palm
and kindness forms a pleasant, comfy slime.

We nestle down, we ooze and laugh astream–
here sin has lost its sense and Goodness reigns
without debate or confusion between
the people meeting soft-faced on the main.

What must we gleam, what must we gather
while plucking festive evening flowers?

Copyright AMW

[Bartleby’s Poetry Corner]

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