When I gaze at the moon in the sky,

My love! Your refulgent face gently appears,

For a fleeting moment my eyes etch a lie.

 

In a chimerical realm that dangles high,

I embrace thee and my grief disappears,

When I gaze at the moon in the sky.

 

Garnering stardust, with wings I fly,

I sway with thee in celestial spheres,

For a fleeting moment my eyes etch a lie.

 

Though my incessant ink has now gone dry,

Pastel memories flash ‘midst my tears,

When I gaze at the moon in the sky.

 

Embers still simmer, can they ever die?

In my strained heart when winter nears,

For a fleeting moment my eyes etch a lie.

 

My forlorn soul yearns and my days sigh,

But the veil of melancholy clears,

When I gaze at the moon in the sky,

And, for a fleeting moment my eyes etch a lie.

 

***

 

The above poem has been written in the Villanelle style. It was written for the monthly poetry contest held by Penmancy in April and secred second place. It was first published in https://penmancy.com/moonlit-melodies/

Villanelle

The Villanelle is known for its repeated lines and a refrain. It consists of five tercets and a quatrain (6 stanzas or 19 lines in total). The form is expressed this way:

A1 b A2 (1st tercet)

a b A1 (2nd tercet)

a b A2 (3rd tercet)

a b A1 (4th tercet)

a b A2 (5th tercet)

a b A1 A2 (a quatrain; last stanza-serves as the poem’s concluding lines)

The capitals are for the refrains and lowercase letters are for the rhymes.

Picture Credit: Pixabay