Changing a Flat
I grew up believing the world was flat
Have you ever lived in southwestern Minnesota?
You changed my flat world and even more than that
You believed in me, despite my flaws, you didn't bat
Your eye, au contraire, you took me home in your Toyota
Still, I believed the world lay flat
And God would forsake a girl like me who spat
Out profanities and dismissed the Holy Roman rota
But you didn't give up and even more than that
You listened to me when I called to chat
At five in the morning, singing Molly O'Brien's Dakota
Wind, which is a world, I believe, that is flatter than flat
Babe you loved me, you loved me, I couldn't run from that
You shouted your love from the bridge of Mendota
You changed my flat world and even more than that
Let's grow old together, let's sit and get fat
We'll visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota
And travel the world that's no longer flat
Because you changed my flat world and even more than that.
(I sent this villanelle in for A Prairie Home Companion's love poetry writing contest. I think Garrison was too wowed to read it. What do you think?)
3 comments:
It's nice. I don't want to get fat, but I realize you needed a rhyme. :)
I loved this villanelle. I am a bit of a collector of villanelles, in the sense that if I am perusing a poetry book in the store and happen upon one, I am almost certain to get the book. This book I would buy in a second. Is there a book?
Liz, I thank you so much for reading and commenting. In fact, I am currently in the process of self-publishing a chapbook. I'll let you know when it's available.
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