Villanelle Origin Story

for Cameron

A wooden sword and candy red hair,
whirling, twirling lioness on a summer’s day,
of harm and harming, there is no care.

Grown men have fled the field and stare
“I fear I’d hurt her if I tried to play!”
A wooden sword and candy red hair,

A goblin grin, her nostrils flare.
“Beware the new girl” I hear them say,
“Of harm and harming, there is no care.”

But still they all are gathered there,
green grass, blue sky, it’s time to play.
A wooden sword and candy red hair,

the clacking wood, the humid air,
the lioness’ and goblin’s prey.
Of harm or harming, there is no care.

The seeds of friendship planted there
a tree that grows from simple play.
A wooden sword and candy red hair
of harm and harming, there is no care.

Matthew Nisinson (he/him) lives in Queens, NY with his wife and daughter and their two cats. He has a JD, and a BA in Latin. Each summer he grows chili peppers. By day he is a bureaucrat. His poetry has appeared in Boats Against the Current, en*gendered, Hyacinth Review, and Milk Press, among others.