Villanelle: I Ran Away Poem by Sally Evans

I ran away from him too many times,
through all the stages of delusion.
Now I have nothing but my singing rhymes.

Through comic paradise where the sublime's
a bright chaotic clearing in the sun
I ran away from him too many times.

Our operas were only pantomimes.
We cried and fought and even loved for fun.
Now I have nothing but my singing rhymes.

I was a hero who committed crimes,
he was a villain helping everyone:
I ran away from him too many times.

I ran through groves of oranges and limes.
I ran by rivers to the ocean.
Now I have nothing but my singing rhymes.

Up, up beyond where vegetation climbs,
down, down till there was nowhere else to run,
I ran away from him too many times.
Now I have nothing but my singing rhymes.

1983