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Cathy Perry

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Lazy Sunday Villanelle

I said, “I’ll close my eyes and dream
of righting wrongs. I’ll write about them, use my head,”
I said, “that would be a useful sort of scheme.”

“I’ll find a liberal, thought-provoking theme –
detainees, the disappeared, the dead.”
I said, “I’ll close my eyes and dream

of writing letters, books – a constant stream –
‘til refugees have nothing more to dread,”
I said, “that would be a useful sort of scheme.”

“It’s so unsettling when you hear them scream,
the maimed, the widows clamouring for bread.”
I said, “I’ll close my eyes and dream

that by exposing torture, murder, rape I can redeem
myself. Us all. I could write that in my bed,”
I said. “Now that would be a useful sort of scheme.”

But, pursuit of happiness remains supreme,
“I’ll write the piece another day instead.
For now I’ll just close my eyes and dream,”
I said. “That would be a useful sort of scheme.”


 

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