Blocked

"I might write one of those villanelle things of yours"
Kingsley Amis, letter to John Wain (Letters of Kingsley Amis)


I'm trying to write a villanelle
It's a tradition, of a sort
It's not going very well

The convention's being held in a hotel
Drunken shouts derail each thought
I'm trying to write a villanelle

To cries of "Look at that" and "Bloody hell!"
As the rugby crowd makes its sport
It's not going very well

While others sip at Muscatel
And circulate the port
I'm trying to write a villanelle

The intrusions break the spell
I reach for words but none are caught
It's not going very well.

Woken by the breakfast bell
Last night's work has come to nought
I'm trying to write a villanelle
It's not going very well.


Martin Locock, 2002