To read the latest issue, click 'Issues by year' in the menu above

I’d like to write a sparkling villanelle
A New Year pick-me-up for humankind,
But still don't know what really rings my bell.

A tale of derring-do and deeds done well
Or soothing thoughts of a reflective mind?
I’d like to write a sparkling villanelle

So good a book of poetry might sell,
And feel it shouldn't be a fearful bind,
But still don’t know what really rings my bell.

The villanelle! It is a kind of hell!
This poem seems to be one big rewind.
I’d like to write a sparkling villanelle . . .

A few more rhymes? The stanzas will not jell?
I'm struggling now to make a lucky find,
But still don't know what really rings my bell.

Guevara? Einstein? Even William Tell?
Who'd read a piece with far less pith than rind?
I’d like to write a sparkling villanelle,
But still don’t know what really rings my bell.