Lorraine Lewis is the Poet of the Week for the W3 We’ave Weekly Poetry Prompt #87. Lorraine challenges us to write a villanelle on the (suggested) theme of the cycle of life and death.
Villanelle? Click here for details
Villanelle?
A villanelle is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines:
Rhyme scheme: AbA, abA, abA, abA abA, abAA,
The 1st line (A) and 3rd line (A), which are the refrains, are repeated four times each.
A appears at the end of stanzas 2 and 4 and as the second-to-last line in stanza 6.
A appears again at the end of stanzas 3, 5, and 6.
(Now you know!)
I wrote my villanelle about the life and death cycle of the mayflies. The poem expresses a memory from watching mayflies dance on a warm summer’s afternoon by a clear village stream. The sight mesmerised me. I fear the poem cannot capture the magic of so many graceful fairies flitting up and down at their ephemeral ball…
Mayflies
The mayflies rise from the watery deep,
emerging up t’ward the airy sky
Ephemeral joy from their sunken keep.
Vertical matrix in delicate sweep
in flighty dance myriad fairies’ fly
The mayflies rise from the watery deep.
A mating ritual of wondrous leap.
With wings, the naiad is reborn to fly.
Ephemeral joy from their sunken keep.
To die—before another dawn. Don’t weep.
Their dance forecloses with a shimmering sigh.
The mayflies rise from the watery deep.
Over the glinting surface, soft shadows creep,
Gossamer dance gowns that entrance the eye.
Ephemeral joy from their sunken keep.
Then new progeny sink ere mayflies sleep,
The sowing of their souls afore they die.
The mayflies rise from the watery deep.
Ephemeral joy from their sunken keep.
Lesley Scoble, December 2023
Here’s a brief (30 secs) time-lapse video of the progress of my drawing of a mayfly.
NOTES
Naiads
The larvae of the mayfly are called Nymphs. In my poem, I call them Naiads.
The sunken keep
In my poem I call the nymph’s sub aquatic home the sunken keep. It is where they spend most of their lives, which can last two to three years.
Metamorphosis
The metamorphosis of the nymph is extraordinary. It changes twice. All in one day! The first change is into a subimago, an adult of dull colour that cannot reproduce. Then it changes again into the complete and unique adult called the spinner. The Mayfly is now more colourful and dressed for the ball with diaphanous, lacy wings.
Clean water
You know when you see mayflies the water is clean and in good condition. Mayflies are a good indicator that the stream or river is unpolluted.
Eggs
After the ball, the female sits upon the water surface to lay her eggs (which will sink to the bottom). Then, she, exhausted, dies. Her wings are flat on the surface, whereupon the mayfly’s end of life provides a vital bounty of seasonal food for fish. The males fly off into the reeds to die.
The Mayfly
(source The Wildlife Trust)
The common, or 'green drake', mayfly is one of 51 species of mayfly in the UK, and is on the wing from April until September (nymphs are present all year-round). Mayflies are common around freshwater wetlands, from fast-flowing rivers to still lakes, where the larvae spend their lives underwater, feeding on algae and plants. In the summer, the adults hatch out - sometimes simultaneously and in their hundreds; they have very short lives (just hours in some cases), during which they display and breed. Many species do not feed as adults as their sole purpose is to reproduce, dying once they have mated. The name 'mayfly' is misleading as many mayflies can be seen all year-round, although one species does emerge in sync with the blooming of hawthorn (or 'mayflower').
ACKNOWLEDGING
Thank you Lorraine Lewis for your challenging prompt. This is my first attempt at a villanelle. My thanks also go to David, The Skeptics Kaddish for his inspiring and motivational W3 We’ave Weekly Poetry Prompt.
This shall be my last post this year. I wish you all Health and Happiness in the New Year. Happy 2024 everyone!
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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