This is an art, this Villanelle.

This is an art, this Villanelle,
It tells a story, false or true.
It sings a silly song so swell.

It's frame is tight, it tightly tells
the things of life, of me, of you.
This is an art, this Villanelle.

It's old, so old, it rose, it fell,
turned quickly old while it was new.
It sings a silly song so swell.

With only two refrains it tells
so much, though rhymes are only two.
This is an art, this Villanelle.

It's hard to write, the students tell
their teachers, and they say so too.
It sings a silly song so swell.

The anti-formists flee this hell,
to dive in formless songless dew.
This is an art, this Villanelle,
It sings a silly song so swell.

(C)2008, Christos Rigakos