The Indelible Stain
A Proper Villanelle
I have a post in production. It’s just taking longer than I expected. In the meantime, I did end up writing a proper Villanelle. Just a reminder it has 19 lines: 5 stanzas of 3 lines and 1 stanza of 4 lines, and a repetitive rhyming scheme throughout.
I feel like this poem is about resistance and rebellion, in the face of something unmovable or unending. We just can’t accurately identify what it is we’re resisting.
Are we caught in futility loops, where we resist ourselves over and over? Are we mistaken? Are our battles with others just continuations of battles we’ve been having with ourselves from the beginning?
If you can’t defeat an enemy, do you just change your target?
Resistance takes energy, where do your reserves come from?
Eventually you will get comfortable operating from a perpetual deficit. When you do, it’ll feel strange to get back to neutral. When that strangeness hits, do you hop back into a cycle of energy depletion, or do you just allow yourself to feel weird for a bit?
There’s something rejuvenating waiting on the other side of weird.
Lots of questions I know, please enjoy the poem.
The Indelible Stain
Because we can't scrub off the indelible stain No matter our effort it all stays the same The pride we once lost, we'll surely regain Through constant prattle and stubborn refrain No matter who's pointing we won't take the blame Because we can't scrub off the indelible stain Caught in a storm, of wind, and of rain No umbrella to shield us, no money, no fame The pride we once lost, we'll surely regain No grace and no mercy our anger is plain We've run out of patience our rifles take aim Because we can't scrub off the indelible stain Nothing to lose, something to gain Yearn to be wild, but still broken and tame The pride we once lost we'll surely regain Forever against this burden we'll strain We've got the fuse, but who has the flame Because we can't scrub off the indelible stain The pride we once lost, we'll surely regain
Questions
What’s your longest standing ‘bother’?
What are you resisting daily?
A wonderful villanelle, thank you. Also this is a great paragraph "Are we caught in futility loops, where we resist ourselves over and over? Are we mistaken? Are our battles with others just continuations of battles we’ve been having with ourselves from the beginning? " Once we realise these 'battles' all we can do is marvel at our own ability to delude ourselves and laugh heartily.... what else is there!
Resistance is to overcome the daily grind, and dream of what can be!