Four Poems

Hello friends,

Four formal poems this week — two triolets and two villanelles…. Enjoy! (And if you do, please consider supporting my work by purchasing my latest book The Robots of Babylon.)

A TRIOLET

The form is short;
some lines repeat,
but terms distort.
The form is short,
its meaning caught
in metered feet.
(The form is short
some lines? Repeat.)

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MURDER OF CROWS (Triolet)

A murder, from a garden, rose
and left us in the dying light.
The sky is red now — no one knows
a murder from a garden rose.
It’s rare to see so many crows,
and now they’ve gone to gather night.
A murder from a garden rose
and left us in the dying light.

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A VILLANELLE
 
Motifs compel
me now to free
a villanelle.
 
Restrictions sell
the melody
motifs compel.
 
Allusions swell
in harmony —
a villanelle
 
whose echoes yell
the formulae
motifs compel.
 
A sacred spell.
A symphony.
A villanelle.
 
I hear it tell
its form to me:
motifs compel
a villanelle....

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THE LITERATURE OF STARS (Villanelle)

The Moon becomes a question mark, with Mars
below its waxing crescent arc, tonight.
Let’s contemplate the literature of stars:
 
Andromeda is penning dark grimoires
(her spells are full of heat, but barely bright) —
the Moon becomes a question mark with Mars.
 
Now, Libra’s writing enigmatic noirs,
while Leo crafts a parody with bite.
Let’s contemplate the literature of stars.
 
The upper blackness hides Orion’s scars,
yet buckles beam with tales of gallant might.
The Moon becomes a question mark, with mars.
 
Although they speak a language far from ours,
and many write their words in buried light,
let’s contemplate the literature of stars.
 
Because their astral epic often jars
with all those ancient legends we recite,
the Moon becomes a question mark with Mars....
Let’s contemplate the literature of stars.