A Benevolent Villanelle

Pity the bigots who scream and yell.
They're victims of their social class
And cannot help the way they smell.

Of cheap perfume and muscatel.
They're loud and coarse and shrill and crass.
Oh, pity the bigots who scream and yell

And scribble curses they misspell,
Whose bowels are ever letting gas,
So they can't help the way they smell.

Their daily life's a form of hell
With test upon test they'll never pass.
Pity the bigots who scream and yell,

And offer them a looking glass
Inscribed, in Hebrew, I'm an ass.
Pity the bigots who scream and yell
And cannot help the way they smell.

(C)2008, Tom Disch