Last week, I posted “A Poem for Your Thoughts: Experiment 1: Stress,” but since no one really commented on the post, I decided to use my own imagery to create a poem about stress.  Since stress is something that constantly nags at you and is hard to get away from, I thought that writing a villanelle would be a great fit due to its repetitive nature.  I actually haven’t heard of a villanelle until earlier this year when I attended the Willow Glen Poetry Series and one of the open mic readers read “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath and then shared a villanelle of his own.  The two poems were beautiful.  I was then curious and inspired to try out this poetic structure.  Anyhow, I hope you enjoy my first try at a villanelle and that it makes you feel “stressed.” 🙂

Battling Stress

He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
From inside out, Stress devours me.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.

My nerves, puppets under his control,
my eyes, confused, blinded, cloudy,
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.

Deep inside, I tug and pull, tug and pull,
looking for me, of who I used to be.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles,

and in my heart, I see, a giant hole.
Missing are thoughts that made me happy.
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.

The more I lose, the more Stress grows.
I am frightened, alone, and very, very angry.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.

I reach out. I need help. Stress knows
I’m fighting, desperately, to be free.
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.