In My Villanelle

I think I am the villain in my villanelle.

I wish I could break out and be free form instead,

But I’d rather stay the rules than languish in Hell.

Of course I want to do my own thing and rebel,

Not count my syllables, my rhythm or my rhyme.

I think I am the villain in my villanelle.

What if I changed the pattern, rambled a spell?

Is anybody counting? Is it such a crime?

But I’d rather stay the rules than languish in Hell.

Over the corpse of rhyme some have rung the knell.

Though it is easier, I’ll not lie in that bed.

I think I am the villain in my villanelle

Because I chafe against what others do compel

And rant of how I suffer to compose each line,

But I’d rather stay the rules than languish in Hell.

So it is the fate of man since Eve and Adam fell,

This struggle with obedience till we drop dead.

I think I am the villain in my villanelle

But I’d rather stay the rules than languish in Hell.

Photo: The author in Lewes, DE, January 2011 taken by Ronald W. Tipton.