Villanelle Contest

In honor of our villanelle contest, I have composed my own villanelle for the occasion:

The villanelle is here to stay.
No matter how the critics taunt it
All other forms will fade away.

Even though I’ve heard my friends like donkeys bray
That every good poem is also a sonnet,
The villanelle is here to stay.

I try and try to write a breton lay
But by another form my pen is haunted.
All other forms will fade away

Into the night, I can see the truth as clear as day
And I don’t need to flaunt it:
The villanelle is here to stay.

It has such a subtle, quiet way
That beside its gentle wit
All other forms will fade away.

Like a bouffant without hairspray,
Sestinas, haikus and limericks fall flat and quit.
The villanelle is here to stay.
All other forms will fade away.

Okay, it’s not that great but it totally follows all of the rules…except for a consistent meter.  I know all of you can do much better and I expect the entries to our villanelle contest to be great!  Take a look at the rules on our contest page to see what categories of villanelles we will be accepting.  There are also links to a lot of other villanelles.  The advice and practice way at the bottom of the page is especially helpful if you haven’t written a villanelle before.  Writing a rhyming couplet first and then building on it is probably the easiest way to start and that’s how I wrote my poem.  It kind of felt like building a house by stacking a deck of cards…a little precarious at first but easier with practice.  The deadline isn’t until May 30th so that should give you plenty of time to perfect your own poems.  If you have any advice to share with other writers, please post a comment.
On a related note, judging for the Mother’s day contest is almost finished so anyone who entered that contest should hear the results by the end of next week at the latest.  I really enjoyed reading all of the poems.  Thank you to all of the authors for sharing their work.  This was some of the most emotional poetry that we’ve received.