The lady holds her torch aloft, warm welcome beacon to us all.
\nHer steady message, one of peace, within a world that’s gone berserk,
\nBut whispers, “Use your right to vote, lest our democracy should fall.”<\/p>\n
Some cower in the shadowed corners; others rise in sunlight’s thrall
\nWhere hope, ideals, and wisdom guide us from the fears that darkening, lurk.
\nThe lady holds her torch aloft, warm welcome beacon to us all.<\/p>\n
The lady welcomes all who yearn, for right and justice to stand tall,
\nIn her book is written “freedom,” for young and old, for doctor, clerk –
\nBut whispers, “Use your right to vote, lest our democracy should fall.”<\/p>\n
Past history’s lessons have been cruel; the canons bring a deathly pall
\nBonds break, while heartsick mothers cry and distant despots smirk
\nThe lady holds her torch aloft, warm welcome beacon to us all<\/p>\n
We’ve failed to heed the warning signs, so subtle sometimes, and so small
\nThe lady stands her ground and beckons, bids us come to play, to work –
\nBut whispers, “Use your right to vote, lest our democracy should fall.”<\/p>\n
We stand here, the eleventh hour. Will we listen – heed the call?
\nWill we do our civic duty? Or will we, disaffected, shirk…
\nThe lady holds her torch aloft, warm welcome beacon to us all
\nBut whispers, “Use your right to vote, lest our democracy should fall.”<\/p>\n
Copyright\u00a0\u00a9 2018 Holly Jahangiri<\/em><\/p>\n Years ago, I ran an online poetry workshop. I asked, “Which form should I teach, next?” My friend Dale answered, “Villanelle.” I’d never written one; in truth, I’d never heard<\/em> of one. I was too na\u00efve to suggest that Dale go eat dog poop while I taught the class how to write a limerick, instead.<\/p>\n You can’t teach a thing if you can’t do a thing. So I figured out the basics and\u00a0I wrote the blasted Villanelle:<\/p>\n
\nA Little Backstory<\/h2>\n
Amusement Park II<\/h3>\n
A vibrant world of light and color, wild rides whose structures gleam!
\nOn the tainted shores of Erie, life was carefree, full of joy \u2013
\nNow it just seems tawdry, tarnished echoes of a tattered dream.<\/p>\n
The rollercoaster ratchets up; hear the children\u2019s happy scream
\nAs it plummets to the water\u2019s edge, a shiny metal toy.
\nA vibrant world of light and color, wild rides whose structures gleam!<\/p>\n
See the peeling, gilt-edged carrousel? Life itself\u2019s the theme \u2013
\nBoardwalk barkers sell blind luck with every trick they can employ.
\nNow it just seems tawdry, tarnished echoes of a tattered dream.<\/p>\n
Sticky hands and faces, hot dogs, cotton candy, and ice cream
\nDowned with quivering excitement by a girl in corduroy.
\nA vibrant world of light and color, wild rides whose structures gleam!<\/p>\n
Into the garish funhouse door! Dizzy wonder reigns supreme
\nLunging, lounging lizard man, the bearded lady, pretzel boy \u2013
\nNow it just seems tawdry, tarnished echoes of a tattered dream.<\/p>\n
The freaks take off their makeup (even they\u2019re not what they seem!)
\nWe once were young and certain that nothing ever could destroy
\nA vibrant world of light and color, wild rides whose structures gleam!
\nNow it just seems tawdry, tarnished echoes of a tattered dream.<\/p>\n
Then I wrote another one describing how I felt about the form and the person who’d suggested it to me. I vowed never to do it again.<\/p>\n
The Villainous Villanelle<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
Oh, I have scribbled a mile of ink over hill and Dale to hell
\nEmbracing rhymes that have no reason, when meter\u2019s out of season
\nAs mockingly I mutter, \u201cWhy not teach the Villanelle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elusive metaphor and simile, the meaning\u2019s lost, as well
\nBut still I scritch and scratch in vain to pen a verse that\u2019s pleasin\u2019
\nOh, I have scribbled a mile of ink over hill and Dale to hell<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fine good sport, and this I know to call my poems doggerel \u2013
\n\u201cYou know I\u2019m grateful for critique; of course I know you\u2019re teasin\u2019!\u201d
\nAs mockingly I mutter, \u201cWhy not teach the Villanelle?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easier to write a Little Willie, Little Nell,
\nThan to dig the soul for deeper meaning, and the mind for reason
\nOh, I have scribbled a mile of ink over hill and Dale to hell<\/p>\n
I should\u2019ve stopped, I was ahead \u2013 why didn\u2019t I heed the warning bell?
\nYou artistes go right ahead \u2013 just scoff and call it treason
\nAs mockingly I mutter, \u201cWhy not teach the Villanelle?\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m laughing just to think of April, that you can surely tell \u2013
\nAs from this useless verse, the last drop of rhyme I\u2019m squeezin\u2019
\nOh, I have scribbled a mile of ink over hill and Dale to hell
\nAs mockingly I mutter, \u201cWhy not teach the Villanelle?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This came up, somehow, on Facebook – a subthread of comments on my post asking everyone to commit to vote this Tuesday, if they hadn’t, already. I don’t want to start sending out “text a friend” reminders – I’ve had about 40 of them, already, myself! (It’s too important, though, to get angry about it, and it costs me nothing.) I mentioned that I’d once donated to a politician’s campaign, after he sent me a sonnet. (I’m a sucker for a sonnet. But Villanelle starts with “V” and “V” is for VOTE.) So, my friend Susan – who likes to post little poems now and then – promised to write a Villanelle, and I said that a good friend and leader never asks of others something they’re not willing to do, themselves.<\/p>\n
And so, in the spirit of not letting anyone suffer alone, I wrote this. And Susan said, “Oh, it’s so on,” and sent me this<\/a>. This does not count, and it depresses me, even as it makes me laugh.<\/p>\n
Susan’s got till midnight, Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Villanelle the Vote! The lady holds her torch aloft, warm welcome beacon to us all. Her steady message, one of peace, within a world that’s gone berserk, But whispers, “Use your right to vote, lest our democracy should fall.” Some cower in the shadowed corners; others rise in sunlight’s thrall Where hope, ideals, and wisdom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1012911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[],"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-1009535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 04:39:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137989984,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009535\/revisions\/137989984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009535"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jahangiri.us\/2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=1009535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}