When Continents Burn
(Villanelle-Sonnet)
Poem © 2020 by Matthew de Lacey Davidson
A billion creatures and he doesn’t care,
dismissing facts as flaming hyperbole,
while dead koalas lie most everywhere,
shaking hands while choking on the ashen air,
he smirks while brandishing a lump of coal.
A billion creatures and he doesn’t care,
that with Nero he has oh, so much to share
while shame’s averted by his rigmarole:
A billion creatures and he doesn’t care.
In the end, there is no use for hope nor prayer,
he’s made his money, so he finds it droll
that dead koalas lie most everywhere.
A billion creatures and he doesn’t care.
Hordes of dead koalas lying everywhere.
The above is a hybrid poetic (nonce) form of my invention. While a sonnet must have only 14 lines, a Villanelle follows a certain pattern and has 19 lines.