Entropic Villanelle

Things break down in different ways.
The odds say croupiers will win.
We can't, for that, omit their praise.

I have had heartburn several days,
And it's ten years since I've been thin.
Things break down in different ways.

Green is the lea and smooth as baize
Where witless sheep crop jessamine
(We can't, for that, omit their praise),

And meanwhile melanomas graze
Upon the meadows of the skin
(Things break down in different ways).

Though apples spoil, and meat decays,
And teeth erode like aspirin,
We can't, for that, omit their praise.

The odds still favor croupiers,
But give the wheel another spin.
Things break down in different ways:
We can't, for that, omit their praise.


--Tom Disch