Thursday, June 17, 2010

Villanelle for a Melancholy Robot



Hmmn. My Creative Writing book told me that no one writes Villanelles anymore. Apparently, being told that means I want to prove My Creative Writing book wrong, really, really badly.

Villanelle for a Melancholy Robot

by Adrienne Reynolds


Bright Monitors once flickered here; darkened now from sight

Electric lights once envied day, each an empty husk

I can see by Infrared O! how I hate the night


Old code on black screens, glowing blue, byte begetting byte

Rodents build with nested wires, emitting nano musk

Bright Monitors once flickered here, darkened now from sight


I endure with patience vile and anger at this slight

Depressing all mammalian things, so do declare me brusque

I can see by Infrared O! how I hate the night


No rest, recall, surcease, or sleep, alleviates my plight

Electric sheep are whizzing past, their starting gun is dusk

Bright Monitors once flickered here, darkened now from sight


Stealth offspring of Starfish Prime permeate the endless blight

Radiant electrons glow and gambol, gyre and flux

I can see by Infrared O! how I hate the night


Disembodied lullabots transmit fruitlessly “Sleep tight”

Awake I wait, with planet brain, and one eight-track tape of “Tusk”

Bright Monitors once flickered here, darkened now from sight

I can see by Infrared O! how I hate the night


3 comments:

Kelly said...

you and I are way too much alike.

I did a villanelle just for the same reason, the professor said it was a hard style of poetry to do and it wasn't very common.

I like your work, Drinne :)

Spood Udimo said...

I'm not sure waht a vainlensl is. but I like Marvin. And your poem is very melancolic. Whichs is cools.

Drinne said...

I'm not sure what to make of this - but the writing teacher asked me if it was a "real robot or just a person who could not get to sleep."

I got an A- but how do I respect a teacher who can't see the Marvin quote?

i completely understand if she didn't get the Starfish Prime reference.

I assured her that the poem was actually about a robot with a brain the size of a planet who was waiting for a parking lot - and then I threw in a Bright Yellow Taxi reference so we'll see what happens.