Villanelle: The Reaping

The Reaping

As Spring gives way to Summer’s radiant glow
That warms the world in melting heat
We lose our sense of Winter’s coming snow.

Spring’s fledglings, fawns, and kits all grow
The calf gives up its mother’s teat
As Spring gives way to Summer’s radiant glow

Content with grassy fields, the cattle graze and low
Newly shorn, sheep softly bleat
We lose our sense of Winter’s coming snow.

At Winter’s end, we bid the darkness “Go!”
And soon, its icy chill retreats
As Spring gives way to Summer’s radiant glow

At last, all Fall to the conquering foe –
In stunning self-deceit
We lose our sense of Winter’s coming snow.

Smiling, we pretend we do not know
What end must come, when life’s complete.
As Spring gives way to Summer’s radiant glow
We lose our sense of Winter’s coming snow.

— Holly Jahangiri

Today’s Poet

Paul Verlaine – a French poet of the 19th century whose poem, Chanson d’automne, was used in WW II.

In preparation for Operation Overlord, the BBC‘s Radio Londres had signaled to the French Resistance with the opening lines of the 1866 Verlaine poem “Chanson d’Automne” were to indicate the start of D-Day operations under the command of the Special Operations Executive. The first three lines of the poem, “Les sanglots longs / des violons / de l’automne” (“Long sobs of autumn violins”), would mean that Operation Overlord was to start within two weeks. These lines were broadcast on 1 June 1944. The next set of lines, “Blessent mon coeur / d’une langueur / monotone” (“wound my heart with a monotonous languor”), meant that it would start within 48 hours and that the resistance should begin sabotage operations, especially on the French railroad system; these lines were broadcast on 5 June at 23:15.^[3][4][5][6]

Chanson d’automne – Wikipedia

It is time for the letter “V” – and I would be remiss if I failed to mention the villainous Villanelle. Do note that it was a mistake to think it a fixed form; originally, villanelle merely meant a country dance. It might as well have been the Paradelle.

April is National Poetry Month. This year marks its 27th year. NaPoWriMo – 30 days of writing poems – is poets’ answer to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

This coincides with the A to Z Blogging Challenge, now celebrating its 13th anniversary. Some participants choose a theme; others wing it. Doesn’t matter! The real challenge is to build a practice of writing daily. I think I stuck with it…once. You can see the list of participants – I’m sure they’d love it if you’d visit and comment on their blogs.

This month, my goal is to:

1. Write a poem a day and share it – uncurated – here; and
2. Highlight some poets you may be unfamiliar with.

I encourage you to click the links to read about them and their work. I plan to choose a diverse array of classical and contemporary poets – indigenous poets, Black poets, women poets, LGBTQ poets – that challenge us to see the world differently while also tapping into universal themes and emotions.

Remember, too, that comments and conversation are always welcome here. (Spammers, on the other hand, will be tossed into the moat or mocked, so before you leave an irrelevant comment or drop a link, consider that it’s fair game!)