To Say it Using Just a Villanelle

It was a story much too long to tell.
So carefully, he chose the words to say.
To say it using just a villanelle.

He’d met her, but he didn’t know her well.
A married woman, she was known to stray.
It was a story much too long to tell.

His longing for her had begun to swell.
What phrase would bring her heart within his sway?
To say it using just a villanelle.

With eventide he heard the distant knell.
He thought he’d leave it for another day.
It was a story much too long to tell.

But offering the key to her hotel,
Smiling, she turned as if to lead the way!
To say it using just a villanelle.

So deep in love those fallen lovers fell.
Together hand in hand they walked away.
It was a story much too long to tell.
To say it using just a villanelle.



Louis William Rose
March 24, 2003