Dear sweet baby Jesus, who both laid in a manger and hung on a cross:

Why, Lord?  Why do your children wait to this, the Holiest of weeks, to try every single strand of my patience.

I cannot tell a lie.  I just about lost it.

Just.

About.

But just when I thought for sure my mind would be on the back of a milk carton, I remembered that I owed you a poem.

So I wrote one, more for myself than for you. You know, how David encouraged himself?  This little poetry assignment did that for me.

Here goes my attempt at a villanelle.   A villanelle is a poem with a very specific form.  Your ever heard “Do not go gentle into that good night?” It’s probably the most famous villanelle ever written.

I’m going to call my Villanelle:

“Simmer Down, Gabrielle”

YOUR FIERY SPIRIT MIGHT CONSUME US ALL.
LET PEACE IN YOUR SPIRIT REIGN.
YOUR ANGER MAY LEAD TO UNCERTAIN DOWNFALL.

BEFORE HEAVEN’S THRONE, PROSTRATE YOU SHOULD FALL
LET NO TRIFLING THING REMAIN
IN YOUR PRAYERS, GIVE THE MASTER YOUR ALL

YOU CAN KICK, YOU CAN SCREAM, YOU MIGHT EVEN BAWL
BUT FROM SIN YOU MUST ABSTAIN
LEST YOUR ANGER MAY LEAD TO UNCERTAIN DOWNFALL

YOUR EMOTIONS HAVE CAUSED YOU TO BUILD A WALL
YOUR FAITH IN MANKIND CONTINUES TO WANE
YOUR FIERY SPIRIT MIGHT CONSUME US ALL

NOT EVERYTHING SHOULD LEAD TO A BRAWL
USE YOUR WORDS TO TRY TO EXPLAIN
YOUR ANGER MAY LEAD TO UNCERTAIN DOWNFALL.

I PRAY YOU HEAR THE MASTER’S CALL
AND KNOW THAT LOVE IS NEVER IN VAIN
YOUR FIERY SPIRIT MIGHT CONSUME US ALL

DON’T GIVE AWAY YOUR FREEDOM FOR SOMETHING SO SMALL
SO MUCH TO LOSE, SO LITTLE TO GAIN
YOUR FIERY SPIRIT MIGHT CONSUME US ALL.
YOUR ANGER MAY LEAD TO UNCERTAIN DOWNFALL.

If you’re not a villanelle fan, there’s another poetry form that everybody loves the limerick.  Here’s an original limerick:

It has been a very long day.

This mom is not here to play.

Have your stuff in line,

And everything will be fine.

IF not, Get the hell out the way!

Finally, there’s a poem I wrote in college or high school, that I call my anthem,  Here it goes:

Used, abused, dazed and confused, I don’t know what to do.

Dissed, pissed, not on the A-list.  Why? I haven’t got a clue.

Mad, sad and feeling quite bad. My heart is full of ache.

Enslaved, well-behaved, I want to be saved, how much more of this shit must I take?

I know, I’m know king David, and these probably aren’t Psalms you want to take on as your mantra.  But I will tell you that writing these got me through some pretty tough days, including yesterday.

Hoping all of our todays are better than our yesterdays.

Love

Mama Radford