Oh my.. I decided to try writing a villanelle. It was very, very difficult. I spent more time trying to fit in rhyme, beat and pattern than I did in honing the content, so to me the effect is lacking in depth. I’m glad I tried it though!
(This is for peer assessment on an online course I’m taking)
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/how-to-make-a-poem
No good news: a villanelle
No good news today, hang my head and cry,
Bitter war is raging, missiles flying,
Must be something good to help us get by.
Bush fires burn Australia, earth drought-dry,
Camels to be slaughtered ’cause they’re drinking,
No good news today, hang my head and cry.
Ice is melting, earth’s heating too quickly,
See the glaciers trickle, waters rising,
Must be something good to help us get by.
Forests falling, carbon oxides rise high,
Diversity ever-disappearing,
No good news today, hang my head and cry.
Plastics, toxins, acids: the end is nigh,
This world of ours won’t last, wonder fleeting,
Must be something good to help us get by.
Neighbours hating neighbours, no one asks why,
Rich, old blind men dictating everything,
No good news today, hang my head and cry,
Must be something good to help us get by.
Annalie Seaman 