Poetic License: ‘I Will Not Write a Villanelle’

Joe Pacheco
I will not write a villanelle,
Sestina, sonnet or pantoum
Unless I learn to craft one well.
Let Collins keep his paradelle
For those whose poetry has the room,
I will not write a villanelle.
For some the form has cast a spell,
For others it will spell their doom
Unless they learn to craft one well.
Rondeau, triolet or rondel
None of these would I dare to groom
Until I write a villanelle.
Some poets grind them out pell-mell
But I’ll not force my muse to bloom
Until I learn to grow one well.
Thomas used one to rage like hell,
And Robinson his “House” to gloom,
They did not write a villanelle
Until they learned to craft one well.