Poetry Friday–A Villanelle:HUMANITY

September Morning Glories, watercolor and watercolor pencil, © 2017 Michelle Kogan

I have been lost in the sea of events unfolding in the U.S.A. and around the world. The times seem ever so precarious. I’ve taken to my pen to try to understand and share my thoughts. For Poetry Friday I’m sharing a villanelle that I wrote after recently attending a workshop on them at the Poetry Foundation. The instructor there is excellent, Maggie Queeney, she focused on our creating a villanelle that comes from a personal loss. I decided to take this a bit further and look at a loss that has happened in our country. I am at heart an optimist, so as I was creating closure for this poem I wanted to have it end on a more positive note, which is not always the case in life or in these poems. The accompanying WIP art is a breath of humanity–which includes benevolence, and what better to include than a symbol of my love for beauty and nature.

 

HUMANITY

Let me hold you tightly in my arms,
breathe as one as if the air has cleared,
we’ll wrap away days troubles and storms.

Remember there are truths beneath the lies,
meanings of all colors emerge, though marred–
Let me hold you tightly in my arms.

Listen to the demoralizing cries,
listen between lines for what’s disappeared,
we’ll wrap away days troubles and storms.

Humanity has donned an ugly disguise,
soul-searching–has this quality become feared?
Please, let me hold you tightly in my arms.

Heavens open wide with wise reprise,
guide even those who have racketeered,
we’ll wrap away days troubles and storms.

See through a child’s future eyes,
and seek a day when all nations are revered.
Let me hold you tightly in my arms,
and we’ll wrap away day’s troubles and storms.

© 2017 Michelle Kogan

Here’s a link for the structure of a villanelle at Academy of American Poets

And here’s a villanelle by Elizabeth Bishop. You can read the rest at the Poetry Foundation.

ONE ART

By Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

Matt Forrest Esenwine is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at, Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Thanks Matt! He also has a new enchanting book that’s just about out called, Flashlight Night. Be sure to stop by his blog for more info on his book and lots more poems!

 

SaveSaveSaveSave