Tim Seibles
RUNAWAY BLUES VILLANELLE
Maybe we could all just fly away
Time will say nothing, but I told you so
Not sure what else time can really say
Not sure I wanna write this anyway
Woke up feelin like I jus don’ know
Maybe we could all just walk away
No use runnin hot and yellin all damn day
Mom told me No one monkey stops the show
Guess she didn’t know what else to say
Maybe I should put my mind on layaway
Can’t turn it off—can’t tell where it’ll go
Think I might just turn away
Summa y’all go to church and pray
I look at the sky— I just don’ know
Maybe we should all just run away
Gotta try somethin, come what might may
When that goes wrong, they’ll shrug I told you so
Ain’t that some worthless shit to say
People worry ‘bout who’s straight, who’s gay:
The body’s the arrow, the heart’s the bow
Someday we’ll all just fly away
When I go, just let Omar Sosa play
Then rock’a my soul at a Funkadelic show
You give me half a chance, I’d get away
When you think about it, same thing time would say
This is such a unique variation of the form, giving it extra stanzas, and the variation works quite well, given the subject matter
Man, I really tried giving Seibles the benefit of the doubt here, but what a challenging read. The “no periods” choice is defensible, but all the others are too inconsistent. I can’t help but read it as messy. Don’ or Don’t? Just or Just? No spaces on an emdash or one space? Elisions or no? We dropping g’s or no?
The typography and form are being trashed. Clearly intentional. Still, I can’t help but read it as lazy mess.
Someone help me.