April 22, Napowrimo 2026. Today’s test, write a Villanelle.
Although originally a highly structured form, the Villanelle, with its roots buried deep in Italian peasant soil song, has been mutated by poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Randal Mann, Jennifer Horne and Jennifer Hasegawa.
I’ve never been very good with rules, especially strict ones.
Resisting form has meaning,
If I can’t be me,
What’s the point of dreaming?
I learnt quite young, that
Resisting form has meaning,
It’s the mould that made me me.
If I can’t be me,
In the form of my meaning,
Can I ever be free?
What’s the point of dreaming,
Of tea-brewed solace,
If I can’t choose my biscuit for dunking?
Herons get mobbed by crows,
While fish await my feeding,
My day, I’ll fill with meaning.
I learnt quite young, that
If I can’t be me,
In the form of my meaning,
What’s the point in dreaming?
Missives & Musings 
Nicely done, Graham, and we kind of chimed today with the idea of not being free to be oneself. You also captured the irony of writing to form. These lines made me smile:
‘What’s the point of dreaming,
Of tea-brewed solace,
If I can’t choose my biscuit for dunking?’
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First, I quite liked this. Especially the way you echoed the form, but didn’t stick to it — you made it your own. Reminds me of how 2 singers can cover a song, but make it sound uniquely each one’s own.
But as for your thesis, do you think there may be value in trying on a form, occasionally, just to see how it fits?
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