Resurrection of the Villanelle
Exaggerated is this news we hear
Of villanelle’s untimely, sad demise;
So, poet, now you wipe away that tear.
Though villanelle remains a form quite queer,
Reports of death are only bold-faced lies;
Exaggerated is this news we hear.
Instead we have report to bring you cheer;
One can write a villanelle if wise,
So, poet, now you wipe away that tear.
You still can write the verse you so revere,
Even if it takes a hundred tries;
Exaggerated is this news we hear.
The villanelle in poetry has no peer,
Though one may need to edit and revise;
So, poet, now you wipe away that tear—
Another chance to write this form is here!
And now the truth I guess you can surmise:
Exaggerated is this news we hear,
So, poet, now you wipe away that tear.
©2010 by Patricia S. Baker
First printed in Writers’ Journal, (May/June 2011, Vol. 32, No. 3, p. 50).