I’ve written down my tale of woe
Of innocence torn asunder
Hope will from my story flow
I thought he was my loving beau
The depths of evil I bid you ponder
I’ve written down my tale of woe
Though the deed was so long ago
It spawned a drama far grander
Hope will from my story flow
I penned 50,000 words to show
How in the desert I did wander
I’ve written down my tale of woe
But glorious grace God did bestow
Healing from a love so tender
Hope will from my story flow
The truth I pray for all to know
Filled with awe and vast wonder
I’ve written down my tale of woe
Hope will from my story flow
__________________________________
The prompt at NaPoWriMo.net today was to “to write a poem that incorporates at least one of the following: (1) the villanelle form, (2) lines taken from an outside text, and/or (3) phrases that oppose each other in some way. If you can use two elements, great – and if you can do all three, wow!”
So I definitely managed (1), because this is a villanelle. I half-accomplished (2), if you consider the phrase “my tale of woe” as an idiom taken from the annals of history. And I accomplished (3) because my two repeating lines are opposed, one full of woe, and the other flowing with hope.
This poem also fits the Writers’ Digest April PAD Challenge, because it involves something stolen: innocence.