Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Villanelle: Nonsense Mantras

God, what nonsense I talk to myself!
like a worried, distracted duck
quack-quack-quacking to itself.
I talk nonsense to myself
you’ll see what I mean—the dreck and muck,
the rank nonsense, I talk to myself.
How much nonsense can the self
churn out before its cherished stock
runs out of nonsense churned by itself?
how much nonsense for myself?
how much wood can a woodchuck chuck—
ignitable cellulose of self?
myself a silly nonsense-self
if you get on this horse, they’ll buck—
headlong nonsense for yourself!
You’ll say, joker, fool yourself!
That’s when I’ll finally be in luck.

Nonsense mantras of the self.
God, what nonsense I talk to myself!