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| Avantika Vijay Singh |
A Villanelle for Vandana
clouding of her vision—
a cataract from birth,
her spirit empyrean,
boom—an explosion,
her eye, a bleeding hell on earth—
clouding of her vision,
knows she revulsion,
an empty socket for her eye from birth—
her spirit empyrean,
knows she derision for this aberration,
from children cruel, in curious mirth—
clouding of her vision,
knows she devotion,
her parents’ love rebuilds her worth—
her spirit empyrean,
behind the cosmetic eye, the scars hidden,
strength and resilience quietly unearth
clouding of her vision—
her spirit empyrean
Author’s note: I’m grateful to Vandana Kumar, an acclaimed poet and a French teacher, for sharing her story and giving me permission to write. I have always admired her strength and resilience, ever since I first heard her story at the Yercaud Poetry Festival in Puducherry. This poem is written as a villanelle with 19 lines in five tercets and one quatrain. The rhyme scheme is ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABAA. Line 1 repeats in lines 6, 12, and 18. Line 3 repeats in lines 9, 15, and 19.
Beautiful ...you weave the words so well .
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