In winter, the ash is a liar like me
no different in the copse from its fellows
a beauty in death for its filigree.
Its costume of stillness and symmetry
in the fullness of summer turned yellow.
In winter the ash is a liar like me.
It looks to the wind to lend piquancy
by enlivening motionless sorrow
a beauty in death for its filigree.
The green of the ash has invisibly
diminished as the borer could tell you.
In winter, the ash is a liar like me.
Quick heart gone dry inside of the ash tree
A dancer swaying beneath the gallows
a beauty in death for its filigree.
A carve that kills leaves it fine and fancy
from just the proper angle, heaven knows.
In winter the ash is a liar like me,
a beauty in death for its filigree.
______
for Dverse Poetics: Pounding the Pantemeter, hosted by Ingrid.
A dark and haunting Villanelle, that captures the coldness of winter. Some great lines in this piece.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully done.
ReplyDeleteOh..........a liar, a dancer swaying...motionless sorrow..a beauty in death.......there are no words I could say...every now and then a poem likes this comes along and renders me speechless...but emotions full...
ReplyDeleteIf I'm getting the gist of this, in wintertime it is impossible to see if the ash tree is alive or dead, but it's still just as beautiful? Hoping I got it right. The repeated first line makes it a potent metaphor. I will have to think on that connection for a bit.
ReplyDeleteYou have said so much of what is in all it's starkness with just the right amount of subtleties. The repetition of this form makes it even more magnificent. I love this poem Shay!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece Shay.
ReplyDelete“In winter the ash is a liar like me…
…a beauty in death for its filigree”
I love those two lines most especially!
Shay, seriously, this is one of my favorite poems of yours that I've read, and a terrific villanelle - just terrific. Your rhyming words were inspired.
ReplyDeleteYours,
David [ben Alexander]
http://skepticskaddish.com/
For one who professes not to be good at Villanelles, you have written a beauty! Enjoyed this so much, Shay.
ReplyDeleteNot just a neatly turned villanelle, but a well-limned exercise in metaphor as well. The loss of color and life, the sculptural remains left to ornament the winter of the heart, the past blown away, but the present showing a difference which hold both beauty and deception...that all is as it should be, after the borer has eaten his fill. Or so I read. The stateliness of the language and the heart-beat of the pentameter, which I find very difficult to write myself, only add to the whole, giving it an antique vision that is drawn with very modern concepts. Just a beautiful poem, and exactly how form should be done.
ReplyDeleteSo much to love in a good villanelle, and I love how you get from the image of the naked tree, and the filigree of its shape, to the metaphor of self. The ash is a great tree also with its connection to Nordic Mythology
ReplyDelete"Quick heart gone dry inside of the ash tree
ReplyDeleteA dancer swaying beneath the gallows
a beauty in death for its filigree." Love this stanza, particularly.
But the whole poem is so evocative and beautiful, Shay.
A breathtaking Villanelle, Shay. Filigree is a wonderfully descriptive word and works perfectly with lies escaping every opening.
ReplyDeleteI had a major computer crash yesterday, withdrawal from big screen and easy access to poems in the hopper driving me batty. Hoping I can be back on track soon.
So beautifully written--and such stark imagery!
ReplyDelete