Paradelle
The man I hoped to be just killed himself.
The man I hoped to be just killed himself.
The words I tried to write have self-erased.
The words I tried to write have self-erased.
The man has self-erased. The words killed him.
I tried to write self. I just hoped to be.
A student says I don’t know how to teach.
A student says I don’t know how to teach.
Our wayward daughter’s on the road again.
Our wayward daughter’s on the road again.
“I don’t know how,” our wayward daughter says.
To teach a student On the Road again.
I’m only grounded when I’m in your arms.
I’m only grounded when I’m in your arms.
My way to fly’s to hide in your long hair.
My way to fly’s to hide in your long hair.
I’m to hide only in your arms. In your long hair
I’m grounded when my way’s to fly.
A student says your fly’s just killed himself.
I tried to write the man I hoped to be.
Our wayward daughter’s arms have self-erased.
I’m only grounded in my way to teach.
Again, I don’t know how to hide
when I’m on the road in your long hair.
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Shoot. My line breaks got messed up near the end.
The last three lines should read:
“I’m only grounded in my way to teach.
Again, I don’t know how to hide
when I’m on the road in your long hair.”
Is there a way to edit poems after they’re posted?
You have 15 minutes after it’s posted; there should be a little button underneath it.
Or, in the future, just email me through the contact form and I can fix it. I went ahead and edited it for you.
(Also, way to kill it. This poem hit me hard. ❤️ )
Thanks Bronson!
the anti-paradelle to paradise
paved with good intentions and ant ties embroidered with yellow bricks
I’ve written one paradelle, so I know they are MUCH HARDER than they look. I love this one.
Still tweaking.
Paradelle
The man I hoped to be just killed himself.
The man I hoped to be just killed himself.
The words I tried to write have self-erased.
The words I tried to write have self-erased.
The man has self-erased. The words killed him.
I tried to write self. I just hoped to be.
A student says I don’t know how to teach.
A student says I don’t know how to teach.
Our wayward daughter’s on the road again.
Our wayward daughter’s on the road again.
“I don’t know how,” our wayward daughter says.
To teach a student On the Road again.
I’m only grounded when I’m in your arms.
I’m only grounded when I’m in your arms.
My way to fly’s to hide in your long hair.
My way to fly’s to hide in your long hair.
I’m to hide only in your arms. In your long hair
I’m grounded when my way’s to fly.
A student says your fly’s just killed himself.
I tried to write the man I hoped to be.
Our wayward daughter’s grounds have self-erased.
I’m only armed when on my way to teach.
Again, I don’t know how to hide.
I’m in the road in your long hair.
The Paradelle is a modern poetic form invented by Billy Collins as a parody of the villanelle. Billy Collins claimed that the paradelle was a difficult, fixed form consisting of four six-line stanzas with a repetitive pattern invented in eleventh century France, and the press believed the story and ran with it. Due to the extensive publicity, the Paradelle has made its rounds in the poetic community. Even though the form was invented as a hoax, the Paradelle has taken on a life of its own. It is still a difficult form, nonetheless, to practice which can be fun and
rewarding even though the inventor may not have intended it to be.
FYI
Revision to line 17: “I’m only in your arms to hide.”