Villanelle for an Ending
Fragile moon, the diva is singing—
Fatuous moon, in the worlds you mirror
Unlucky stars are merely splinters—
Lovers sweep away the splinters
They call words— & broken mirrors—
Fragile moon, the diva is singing—
The lp’s a glossy pool her singing
Escapes, merging with sky and mirrors—
Unlucky stars are merely splinters
And light from lamps is caught like splinters
In lovers’ eyes, those convex mirrors—
Fragile moon, the diva is singing,
Breakable sky—Lovers aren’t singing—
They watch the lp, thinking it mirrors
Unlucky stars that are merely splinters—
After the aria, the moon will splinter—
A perfect world exploded in singing—
Fragile moon, the diva is singing—
Unlucky stars are only splinters
Jack Hayes
© 2010
[The photo shows a piece in the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden in 1985; the image seemed to fit the poem reasonably well, & there's also an autobiographical connection in the poem to Washington, DC]
You know how I love poetry in form and the villanelle is one of my favourites both to read and to write. This is superb. Tragic, heart-rending and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteKat
Is that a bike-rack in the foreground of the photo(question mark - My keyboard is messed up and unless I do a restart, I cannot access the apostrophes or Q-marks, etc.)
Hi Kat: Thanks! Glad you liked it so well. I'd assume that is a bike rack, but the photo was taken in 1984(!) so that is just a guess!
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