Blink

While talking about the sonnet, my son told me about a type of highly structured poem called a villanelle. It is a set of six stanzas, all of which have three lines except the final one, which has four lines (i.e., five tercets and a quatrain). The lines are all in an ABA rhyming pattern. You take the first and third lines of the first stanza and alternate them going down as the final line of the rest of the stanzas. Then you end the final stanza with both of those lines. It ends up looking something like this:

Blink

I finally have the time, ya know,

to chase my dreams and everything,

I don't wanna go.

Let's blow this freakin' puppet show,

get tattoos, monkeys, steel nose rings.

I finally have the time, ya know?

The future sparkles all aglow.

It's my turn on the playground swing,

I don't wanna go.

Make good on all those years ago

when books lost out on coloring

I finally have the time, ya know?

I hardly got to say hello,

spend time with folks, or anything,

I don't wanna go.

It took me all this time to grow,

and leave behind the suffering.

I finally have the time, ya know?

I don't wanna go.

Now, this is a very simple version of a villanelle. If you want to read an amazing one, try Sylvia Plath’s “Mad Girl’s Love Song.”

What happened was this: I have been feeling like I have finally gotten out from underneath some toxic emotional garbage after 60 years’ worth of pain (as reflected in other lyrics), and I anticipate being retired a couple of years from now. So I will be pissed if I get no chance to enjoy any of that retirement. My dad was hoping to get one year, and ended up with 30.

So, in that context, I was being driven by a line from Doctor Who, namely, “I don’t want to go.” That had the consequence of limiting how interesting and poetic I could get with the rest of the lines without it all feeling terribly imbalanced. But it did give rise to the lyrics for this song, and I’ll work on a better villanelle now that I’ve gotten this one out of my system.

Lyrics

I finally have the time, ya know,

to chase my dreams and everything.

I’m not ready to go.

Let’s blow this freakin’ puppet show,

get tattoos, monkeys, steel nose rings.

I finally have the time, ya know, ya know?

The future sparkles all aglow.

It’s my turn on the playground swing,

I’m not ready to go.

Make good on all those years ago

when books lost out on coloring

I finally have the time, ya know, ya know?

I hardly got to say hello,

spend time with folks, or anything,

I’m not ready to go.

It took me all this time to grow,

and leave behind the suffering.

I finally have the time, ya know, ya know?

I don’t wanna go.

I mean, look at that guy, Lord. He’s a real asshole. Take him! Not me! I'm not old! I still got things to do!

Woo!

I don’t wanna go.

I still got things to do!