blogganelle

I found a new blog recently called Poetry Thursday. They have all kinds of cool stuff -- columnists, writing prompts, thoughts on poetry, and poems themselves. One of the posts this week talked about the villanelle, a very strict poetic form that requires not only a specific rhyme scheme, but also the repetition of particular lines. Two of the best known villanelles are Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night" and Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art."

The form attracted me today as a metaphor for life. In these days full of violence and questioning, it struck me that we have to work to find a form for our expression and action. As we try to figure out how to respond to the world around us on multiple levels, we need some sort of rhyme scheme, if you will: some way to not only articulate our faith but to give it form in a way that connects us in the same manner that a great poem speaks from deep to deep.

All of that said, I took my shot at a villanelle today -- my first successful effort. I don't claim to be anywhere close to Thomas or Bishop, nor do I claim it necessarily lives up to the metaphor; I'm just putting it out there.

Blogganelle

I call my blog “don’t eat alone”
and wish for friends at every meal
as I keep cooking in our home

or at the Inn that I don’t own
my joy with food I can’t conceal
I call my blog “don’t eat alone”

the kitchen is where love is grown
at least, for me, that’s been the deal
and so I cook to make a home

‘cause home is not a place I’ve known
since I grew up on wing and wheel
I call my blog “don’t eat alone”

the ache for home lives in my bones
belonging I most want to feel
so I keep cooking my way home

following crumbs that love has strewn
to what is real – (more than ideal)
I call my blog “don’t eat alone”
as I keep cooking in our home

Peace,
Milton