Scraping The Barrel (A Villanelle)

I love the villanelle form. It's usually used for deadly serious poems, the most famous being Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight. However, I recently came across a wrly funny example by Wendy Cope Villanelle for Hugo Williams, mildly chastising him for bastardising the form. I decided to write my own in the same tone.

I'm sure all your friends will agree

You're mining the sofa for change,

You're scraping the barrel with me.

It's really not you, it's totally me,

I'm odd, queer, peculiar, strange,

I'm sure all your friends will agree.

You know there are plenty more fish in the sea,

Don't plumb the depths it's deranged.

You're scraping the barrel with me.

You've set your sights to the lowest degree,

Grubbing the basements, the bargain range,

I'm sure all your friends will agree.

In this spirit I'm returning to thee,

All the gifts we exchanged,

You're scraping the barrel with me.

Time heals and one day you'll see,

We were always estranged.

I'm sure all your friends will agree,

You're scraping the barrel with me.

Listen to Scraping The Barrel