Diana Forrest
Villanelle Schmillanelle
So everybody's writing villanelles;
How nice that structure's coming back again.
It may be beautiful, but will it sell?
This repetition, like a tolling bell,
Can show the drudgery of human pain,
So everybody's writing villanelles.
Creating atmosphere, it works so well,
Subtly repeating phrases in refrain.
It may be beautiful, but will it sell?
Do classic forms now toll blank verse's knell?
Apparent freedom can become a bane.
So everybody's writing villanelles.
My last rejection slip, I'm glad to tell,
Said I could handle rhyming without strain,
It may be beautiful, but will it sell?
In measured lines the poet cries out, 'Hell!
No cash although I work with might and main:
So everybody's writing villanelles.
It may be beautiful, but will it sell?'
Page(s) 13
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