Another round of SPARK -my fifth- ended this weekend. As always, the finished product feels unfinished, but gave me an opportunity to try something new. I love playing with form, and when the first night of grad class last week included discussion of a villanelle, I knew I had found my form for this round. The rhyme scheme is a tip of the hat to the most famous of villanelles. Ten points to anyone who gets it, bonus points for the cheesy 80s movie in which it played a prominent part.
This was my inspiration piece from the talented Jane Hulstrunk, which of course delighted me.
And my response.
Flight
There are so many ways of taking flight
Paper wings turn glossy in the glare of summer day
Silky wings fold thickly on a sweltry summer night
Touch of wings to petals in noon’s ascending light
Petals yield to feasting, the pollen is cast away
There are so many ways of taking flight
Legs as thin as your lashes unfold and set down light
Find the nectar carried on the wind and flit away
Silky wings fold thickly on a sweltry summer night
The hum of you around me, a thousand wings alight
Will you light your wings upon my limbs and stay?
There are so many ways of taking flight
Lashes thin as butterfly legs fold in releasing sight
Enclose the nectar of your gaze
Silky wings fold thickly on a sweltry summer night
The hum will cease, wings dismantle, if I hold too tight
Dissolve into me, love, all that binds us is decay
There are so many ways of taking flight
Silky wings fold thickly on a sweltry summer night.
My inspiration piece for my partner was my story “Hive.” This was the response. It blows me away.
