In order to create  we move the lines
The  boundaries or the edges of the  forms
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 

Who was it who made the first designs?
To start with it is frightening then  more calm
In order to create  we move the lines

 

How we do it,  can we now define?
Let  the  eyes  graze  till  they leave the norm
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 

Let the colours wander  till  combined
Reverse the   ground  and let new figures form
In order to create, arrange the lines

 

If it’s common keep it unrefined
Don’t  impress with artificial charm
Co-created, neither  yours nor mine

 

Like Picasso, you may cause alarm
Keep the secret locked  away from harm
In order to create  we move the lines
When created, it’s both yours  and  mine

Capel Manor Horticultural College

[I don’t do it the way below   with the rhymes chosen first but try it]

 

http://classicalpoets.org/how-to-write-a-villanelle-with-examples/

 

I find it easier to build two rhyming metered lines. For this example, I have chosen to use friendship as a theme, and I am going to use iambic pentameter… not because it’s required for the form, but because I like the cadence it produces.

With this in mind, after some deliberation, my two refrain lines will be:

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

This meter decision and the creation of these two lines is the most difficult part of the villanelle crafting process. Once you have written these echoing lines that fit together, you can create the framework of poetic feet that will comprise the poem itself. Following the villanelle’s pattern, I get:

Note: in this pattern, (-) will represent a soft syllable, and (=) will represent a hard one with (|) as a separator between feet.

(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

(a)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(b)  –  = | –  = | –  = | –  = | –  =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.

 

As you can see, we need 5 (a) lines, and 6 (b) lines to complete the poem, and these must flow within the theme. Since I already know the rhyme sound for (a), I chose the following list:  you, too, blue, new, view

I then chose six keywords that rhymed with each other that felt like good accents to this list:  comprehend, friend, pretend, send, mend, end

By plugging these into the pattern, and then creating iambic feet that rounded out the meter, I was able to build a nice poem that fit the theme.

 

Hold My Hand In Yours

Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
If life becomes too hard to comprehend,
for no one understands me like you do.

Along life’s lonely road, I’ll walk with you.
When times are hard, please know you have a friend.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

I’m here for you. You give me your strength too;
my courage is no longer just pretend,
for no one understands me like you do.

My friend, I’ll cheer you up when you are blue,
A smile, my heart to yours will always send.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.

If I am down, you make me feel brand new
You know the way, my broken heart to mend,
for no one understands me like you do.

Though oft times life presents a horrid view,
Together we can face the bitter end.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through,
for no one understands me like you do.

© 2016, Dusty Grein

 

It may not be Dylan Thomas, but I kind of like the result. It could stand a bit of editing and some polishing, but it is a solid foundation.

As you can see, the crafting of a classic metered poem, even in a form as rigid as the villanelle, is something that can be challenging, yet fun. Writing metered rhymes in these types of forms will help you grow as a poet, and I encourage you to challenge yourself, and see what happens.

Other Villanelles published by the Society of Classical Poets

Apes or Angels
Gospel According to Hoffman-Laroche
Villanelles for Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China
Coming Out, a Holocaust Vilanelle
Camino D’Oro

 

Dusty Grein is an author, poet and graphics designer from Federal Way, Washington. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where his 15 year old daughter is hard at work securing her college degree while still in high school, and raising him right. When he is not busy writing, he donates a great deal of his time and graphics talent. In honor of his grandson Eddy, lost to SIDS at 13 weeks old, he creates free memorial images for bereaved families, with a special focus on infant and pregnancy loss. His blog, From Grandpa’s Heart… is followed by fans around the world.

 

 

When sick with flu,  Lord Death  feels all too near
it is indeed a sleep by will desired
Without distress nor shedding of a tear

 

  Perhaps our destiny has brought us here
 Those who ‘re   often truthful  are still liars
 At certain times we feel  the death dance near
In the dark, the demons seem to leer
As wrestlers now they throw us on the pyre
Show no distress nor shed a single tear

 

We won’t  inhabit life  in  subtle fear
We’ve been thrown and pinned onto barbed wire.
At evening  time we feel  our breath draw fire.

 

 
If only  those I loved   had  lingered  years
That I have been estranged in ruined choirs
Hiding my distress In sheets of tears

 

There is no rescue from these gnarled  briars
  Let God and nature   warm me with sun’s fires
Winter- tired and weary, death  lurks near
Greet the end quite calmly when it’s here.

I remember someone, possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150  times I have experimented in 150 different ways and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much.  Vision and perception are crucial in solving problems or in creation. True perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from.Otherwise we go stiff like unused joints

by Annie Diamond

Both mean not having, but one means missing too.
Absence can be welcome, but lack implies desire—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you

might be a good example. And it’s true
that lack makes judgment, means that we require
the thing that’s gone (a constant aching, too)

while absence just reports; we can make do
with smaller things; it doesn’t sound so dire.
Who needs the noise? (But I need you.)

Absence lets us start anew,
while lacking keeps us laced to its dark pyre.
Both are not having, but one is missing too,

and wanting nothing more than to undo
whatever sins caused lacking to transpire.
The noise is done, and so, I guess, are you

with me. In verse I struggle to subdue
my restless heart. (The lacking makes me tired.)
Both mean not having; one means missing too—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you.

Annie Diamond is a student at Barnard College, a private women’s liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University. She has also studied abroad at Mansfield College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University in England. She recently completed her sophomore year at Barnard College, where she studies English and creative writing. Her work has been published in Apt, Avatar Review, Clockwise Cat, The Columbia Review and The Lyric. She was awarded first prize in The Lyric‘s College Poetry Contest for her villanelle “The Difference Between Lack and Absence.” The same poem later won the Lyric Memorial Prize and was named the best poem to appear in The Lyric for the year 2013. Her favorite writing spot is the Hungarian Pastry Shop on New York City’s 111th Street, and her number one life ambition is to appear on Jeopardy.

“It was my honor and pleasure to judge The Lyric‘s yearly and quarterly awards. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my favorite poem for the year 2013 was written by a college student, Annie Diamond. I believe she has a very bright future.”—Michael R. Burch

 Here’s Carol V. Davis of Los Angeles, pitching horseshoes with an admiral. This poem is from her most recent book, Because I Cannot Leave This Body, from Truman State University Press.

Admiral Nimitz

Every day in summer I’d cross the border;
he’d nod, pick up the horseshoes,
hand me one, triple the size
of my palm, and say, You first. We’d play
away the afternoon. Few words
punctuated the clank of horseshoe
against stake, until the fog rolled in
and I’d retrace my steps home.
I was five or six; he, white haired,
however old that meant.

One evening my father sat me down,
spoke in the exaggerated tone
adults adapt for children, asked
if I knew who he was.
Admiral Nimitz, of course, though
I knew nothing of his command
of the Pacific Fleet and was less impressed
than if he’d landed a horseshoe.

He was a calm man, a useful attribute
for sending young men to their deaths.
The only time I saw him upset,
raccoons had invaded from their hideouts
in the hills, attacked the goldfish in his pond,
leaving muddy footprints as they escaped.
As far as I knew, this was his only de

You may be surprised to learn that some of the ideas in religion can help you control your home and your possessions.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” is part of the Sermon on the Mount but also Jesus said to the rich young man to give away all his physical  possessions
I don’t think we can give away all our possessions if we live here in 2017 but we can certainly give some of them. It will help the poor , as I said when I  gave away my winter coat that someone else will be glad of it.The  fewer possessions  we have the less storage space we need and also it will save time  in  caring for these  possessions and give us time for creativity, meditation and fun

Before we start on creating more storage space or tidying up what we have it is sensible to look at our possessions and see if we have duplicates or just too many things.  I have got too much cutlery now. Before you give away possessions that you once needed for entertaining, show yourself some mercy because you may be sad over the fact that you can no longer entertain people in the way that you used to do.
You may find that you have a lot of maps and guidebooks about places where you used to holiday and it may be just as well to give these away. and likewise, if you are retired you may be able to give away books or other possessions relating to your job [if you are fortunate enough to have had that kind of job.]
Little by little wander through your rooms thinking the unthinkable. Have you got broken lamps or broken electrical goods that you intended to have repaired but you never did?
I decided to make some images with my camera which of these broken objects as a project of images which symbolise that we will never be other than broken as people ; that we will never be perfect .When I have finished this project I will give away these objects or put them into recycling
If it’s possible to get rid of a lot of your thingsyou may not need as much extra storage space  as you think
Do think you why you might need more storage space? I was a teacher and an ardent learner of new ideas I would tend to buy books without thinking if I had space for them. now I need to reconsider getting more bookshelves  or getting rid of books.

If  you have acquired a lot of clothing because your size has changed then you may want to rationalise your wardrobe. See you what you wear over a period of a month and then look what you haven’t worn and consider it.You can donate to a charity shop where other people will be very glad  to get it.
At one time people never wore second-hand shoes unless they were very poor but now that many of us have  got a lots of  shoes some may not be worn  and can be given away if you for no longer wear heels or fashion shoes .  the remainder you will have to take to the recycling centre
These activities are going to take time and if you have visitors to your home while you are in the middle of this rationalisation, do not be surprised  if they pass rude remarks about your entire house because  doing this kind of work will initially create more and  chaos as you stack the clothes and books  and put them into suitable heavy duty bags

It’s a bit like having psychotherapy. I imagine at the beginning you reveal  many painful feelings and you may feel worse than you did but hopefully  with the aid and support of the therapist you will learn how to deal with these feelings better than you did before so in the end, we hope that we will feel better  but  in the middle of such things or when we are in the middle of grieving and mourning  we do not believe things will get better in time
Fortunately getting rid of some possessions is not as painful as grieving  for the death of your mother.
I believe it is better not to criticise oneself for having been too extravagant or wasteful. We must be kind to ourselves because it is painful enough getting rid of possessions without beratinging ourself at the same time. We are only human and then in a consumer society,  it is sometimes hard to  resist buying things that we do not really need. If you decided when you were 21 never to buy anything that you didn’t really need then of course you  wouldn’t have this problem of  giving things away

After you have given away as much as you can from  the  first room that you are tidying then you may need to consider whether you need to need an extra storage for what remains. It may be that you can put some of them into storage that already exists in another room. I have a lot of storage in my dining room but I don’t turn to working there so much now partly because it’s facing East and the sun is too bright in the morning but I can still use the shelves to store my books which are now in the sitting room .I t would make sense to make one room always ready for having a friend round or simply to go into in the evening to listen to music and relax no longer irritateded by the books  in heaps

Photo by Mike Flemming

What do you plan to use your house for?

It is sensible to think about what activities you may want to use your home for. If you want to have people to stay with you then consider if you have a spare bedroom is it   suitable  for  having a someone sleeping in there? This may sound silly but I have got a lot of things on my spare bed which I have not yet had time to sort out. but if it’s a priority to have relatives to stay then sorting that out might be very important. but probably what is more important for most of those is having people round for a meal in which case you will need to clear all the things that you leave on the table and make sure you have the  dining chairs available. I sometimes take them into the other room.

Then, of course, you need somewhere for people to sit down in the sitting room that seems obvious. If you’re like me you may use one of the arm chairs for keeping things on that you need while you are working like your diary your phone, your camera , your sketch pad and so on. In this case, it might be wise to have a bag which does not look like a garbage bag into which you can put these things if someone comes to call but at the very minimum, you should have one  chair  clear all the time and ideally a sofa.;my poor husband used to throw his coat and his possession  onto  the Sofa  when he came home ;that  needs  thinking about :where you do put the things like your coat, briefcase, handbag  andso  when you come into the house from a trip or from work  throwing things  onto the sofa puts a sofa out of use and will need somebody to move the things elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be better not to put them on the sofa in the first  place?

You can buy attractive looking over the door hooks wish you could put on the back  of the dining room door or the kitchen door if you don’t have enough room  for hall storage and it’s also somewhere you can hang visitors coats as well  temporarily. There are also useful for temporarily hanging clothes that you have just ironed if you still do  iron  your clothesI hear that if you dry your clothes in a electric clothes dryer or tumble dryer you may not need to iron them but I do not possess these. if you slightly disabled it is quite possible to iron while sitting down and if you are not too tired if it’s quite soothing why I might almost call it meditation. knitting can also be a   soothing  activity  as long as you don’t mind  undoing it from time to time when you notice that you have made a mistake

I remember someone , possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150  times I have experimented in 150 different ways  and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better ; if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much.  Vision and perception  are  crucial in solving problems or in  creation. True  perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from

I read a book that said that you only need one sheet and one duvet cover for your bed because you can take them off in the morning put them into the washer dryer and then put them back on  in the evening  and so you will not need a cupboard full of sheets etc.  Well that might be alright but I think I’m  like one  spare set. if you have children or if you have an older person he may suffer the odd leakage then you certainly more than one  set of bedding. but remember to check it every year because it is easy to forget what we have in the airing cupboard or the wardrobe  and then to buy more without realising it is unnecessary.

What is the minimum amount of spare  bedding that you can live with? one of my friends sleeps in a sleeping bag and the bag can go into the washing machine and the dryer or you can use a sleeping bag liner made of fleece which dries very quickly

if you collect a lot of knick knacks  then   charity shops  do like that sort of thing so put it into a bag and I bring joy to someone else’s heart
We never had many knick knacks in my home as a child but my husband’s family did and  do so my house is similar to  theirs. I have a lot of seashells and other interesting objects which I used to use when I was going to  art classes

I suppose that if you ever do any dusting  or wiping surfaces down that is a good time to look at your little objects and ask yourself if you could live without them. I plan to do that starting today. if you find it difficult to stand up for very long because of arthritis put a chair near the table or  surface you want to clear and then you can concentrate on what you are doing without being overwhelmed by pain. I have got a shopping trolley which can also be used as a seat and I keep it in the kitchen or you can buy cheap folding chairs that you can carry around  easily and put it  next to the place you want to sort out.

if you don’t have a car, ask to your friends to take your bags to the charity shop or find it a charity shop which does collection this I have found one a few miles away which is raising money for children’s cancer research and I tend to call them to come and collect things which are in good condition so that they can sell them in their shop. the British Heart Foundation even collect furniture and I think the Salvation Army also will take things like blankets on larger objects and if  you tell yourself while you are giving the things away to think about the people who are going to receive them it will help you not to be sad but you can’t keep  everything because if you keep it all you may have to build more storage or live in a very untidy  house>
The Bible says is good for our spiritual health not to love possessions which of course is quite right . The question is can you use your home for the purposes that you want to use it for   sitting down, sleeping ,eating, entertaining ,writing, hobbies ,watching TV etc and if you can’t then you must start to do something about it even if it’s only half an hour every day. it may seem onerous but remember the number of things in your house is not infinite and therefore in time you will be able to reduce the number and it maybe that you would even have some spare space instead of being overwhelmed by your possessions

So what  the Bible says is good for our spiritual development namely poverty of spirit is also  connected to actual poverty in the sense of  not being greedy and not owning too many things.

When I see a story of a wealthy person being mugged as they walk down the street wearing diamond necklaces and rings I do not believe the mugger was right to attack them but on the other hand they are flaunting their wealth and flaunting your wealth and flaunting your body may make other people feel envious  or angry. I know we are supposed to be free to wear and do what we want but I think we should consider how it will affect other people around us.I only had one ring which had any value whatsoever  which my husband bought me but it was stolen by someone who offered to help me to clean the house I am pretty sure .I did not do anything about it because I had no proof. if you do you have anything of value then put it somewhere safe and only use it in safe places well it will not be a temptation to others. That’s my point of view as  long as society is so unequal.That causes a lot of suffering.