THERE HAD BEEN AN OUTBREAK OF POETRY

Here's a villanelle, a dreaded villanelle. You have to have a certain degree of skill to pull them off.

IT COULD BE CATCHING

There had been an outbreak of poetry

thankfully it was only a villanelle.

The symptoms were a moody intensity,

giving his life an ABA frequency.

He was quarantined in a cheap hotel.

There had been an outbreak of poetry

and his choice of rhyme revealed uncertainty,

he was unsure if they worked that well.

The symptoms were a moody intensity

to which the nurses responded with flattery,

how he longed to get out of his cell.

There had been an outbreak of poetry

how long it would last none could tell.

The symptoms were a moody intensity

to which they suggested psychiatry

as his rhyming scheme was shot to hell.

I'll let you decide if I have. I got the first line then spent some time making it work. 

Here's the late, great and unjustly obscure Laurie Styvers. Some of us have been listening to her since the early 70s. 

Until next time.