Memento Mori

Villanelle derivative, school assignment - based off Beloved by Toni Morrison

 

By Heaven’s mercy, blood would rain in red divine

In harmony with shattered cries and silent plights

Before we wake beneath the willow’s weeping pine.

 

When ravenous and moonstruck, madness waits to dine

On a guiltless and cherished child’s gore delights;

By Heaven’s mercy, blood would rain in red divine

 

To satiate that thirst we shared to be benign,

Yet by dawn’s arrival, the wanton world ignites

Before we wake beneath the willow’s weeping pine.

Livid with a vanquished thirst for cherry wine,

We fall once more to dreams engulfed by aching slights;

By Heaven’s mercy, blood would rain in red divine.

 

And as those vexing faces fade with vapid shine,

They are gnarled by morning glare and loving bites

Before we wake beneath the willow’s weeping pine.

 

We live forlorn and tangled in the forest vine,

Awaiting sacrament we deserved from sold nights;

By Heaven’s mercy, blood would rain in red divine

Before we wake beneath the willow’s weeping pine.