untitled villanelle
by Michael Helsem


Now it is cicalatide
& all the treetops loudly churn
with frenzy that the bugs provide

Their buried sleep transmogrified,
with urgent lust their one concern
now it is cicalatide

a jazz that will not be denied
though all around them riddles burn
with frenzy that the bugs provide

on such hurled rage our futures ride
however we might wish to learn
now it is cicalatide

let no collective suicide
persuade us yet—overt or derne—
with frenzy that the bugs provide

Be silence, not this noise, our guide
As massed catastrophes slow-perne
now it is cicalatide
with frenzy that the bugs provide






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