Anti-villanelle

Linda Sue Park


It seems to me a desperate feat,
to write a villanelle--
my lines too weak to bear repeat.

The stress and meter, rhyme and feet--
they tumble round, pell-mell.
It seems to me a desperate feat,

a task I simply can't complete!
Much less, to do it well.
My lines, too weak to bear repeat,

are awkward, bitter, never sweet
enticement--they repel,
it seems to me. A desperate feat

of poetry--I've lost the beat...
I know I'll never sell
my lines--too weak to bear repeat

-ed efforts in the blazing heat
of villanelling hell.
It seems to me a desperate feat,
my lines too weak to bear. (repeat)

It seems to me a desperate feat...

Linda Sue Park