Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page
| If you have a poem you'd like to see published in The Irish Examiner then send it to:
The Poetry Corner
The Irish Examiner USA
1040 Jackson Avenue, Third Floor
Long Island City
NY 11101
or, preferably, you can email it direct to
ronniemcginn@eircom.net.
If possible keep your poem to 20 lines. You may choose any subject you like, in any form you like as long as it's original. We look forward to hearing from you. |
Did you ever get a phone call from nobody? Did you ever wonder who nobody was? How can you explain it? How can you express it? An old format sprang to mind. The villanelle is a form of poem that was originally a song sung by European farm laborers; the name comes from the Latin villa, or farm. The medieval French villanelles were irregular, but in the sixteenth century the form became fixed. In today's world it is very much ignored. But sometimes, when the phone rings, it springs to mind.
Last Night, Somebody Rang my Phone
Last night, somebody rang my phone,
There came a strange voice to my ear,
Yet when I spoke, no one was there.
It was a voice from God knows where,
That gave my mind a pang of fear,
Last night, somebody rang my phone
Return the call? Oh no! Don't dare!
No! Just stay cool and calm and clear,
Yet when I spoke, no one was there.
Why all the stress? Why all the care?
Was it from far? Was it from near?
Last night, somebody rang my phone.
A cry of joy? Or deep despair?
A hasty word? All quite unclear,
Yet when I spoke, no one was there.
But now it's vanished in the air,
Forgotten like some yesteryear,
Last night, somebody rang my phone
Yet when I spoke, no one was there.
© Ronnie McGinn
|
