#4 - Nineteen Lines

You only need two interlocking rhymes

where symmetry and inspiration meet

to write a villanelle in nineteen lines

And any subject matter will be fine

to flesh the bones ‒ to craft a lyric suite

you only need two interlocking rhymes

Let artistry create a paradigm

(whose mantra is repeat, repeat, repeat)

to write a villanelle in nineteen lines

Where metre variation is no crime

against the form but complements the beat

you only need two interlocking rhymes

Five tercets and a quatrain that combine

to shape a whole, to make your thoughts complete,

to write a villanelle in nineteen lines

Remember this ‒ whilst fretting at lost time,

whilst staring at a blank, forbidding sheet ‒

you only need two interlocking rhymes

to write a villanelle in nineteen lines

RJT