Ode To Villa

[miyako73]

(twelve poems)



The Lovers are done
No more chatters
The voice is mute
My lips not moving

No bird singing
I hear no flutter
My tongue lonely
I cannot speak a word

The flowers are wilting
Pale almost ghostly
The fire is weak
No glare and not glowing

Neither whiff nor blow
The wind is now quiet
Not telling the truth
The time turns silent

The bells no longer ring
My dream almost gone
I cannot rest my head
Thinking of the divine

Then you come to me
As if on summoned wings
You free my breaths
With your bashful comma

[miyako73]

1) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

The Lovers are done (1)
No more chatters (2)
The voice is mute (3)
My lips not moving (4)

No bird singing (5)
I hear no flutter (6)
My tongue lonely (7)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The flowers are wilting (9)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
The fire is weak (11)
No glare and not glowing (12)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
The wind is now quiet (14)
Not telling the truth (15)
The time turns silent (16)

The bells no longer ring (17)
My dream almost gone (18)
I cannot rest my head (19)
Thinking of the divine (20)

Then you come to me (21)
As if on summoned wings (22)
You free my breaths (23)
With your bashful comma (24)




2) 1,3,2,4,5,7,6,8

The Lovers are done (1)
The voice is mute (3)
No more chatters (2)
My lips not moving (4)

No bird singing (5)
My tongue lonely (7)
I hear no flutter (6)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The flowers are wilting (9)
The fire is weak (11)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
No glare and not glowing (12)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
Not telling the truth (15)
The wind is now quiet (14)
The time turns silent (16)

The bells no longer ring (17)
I cannot rest my head (19)
My dream almost gone (18)
Thinking of the divine (20)

Then you come to me (21)
You free my breaths (23)
As if on summoned wings (22)
With your bashful comma (24)




3) 1,4,2,3,5,8,6,7


The Lovers are done (1)
My lips not moving (4)
No more chatters (2)
The voice is mute (3)

No bird singing (5)
I cannot speak a word (8)
I hear no flutter (6)
My tongue lonely (7)

The flowers are wilting (9)
No glare and not glowing (12)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
The fire is weak (11)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
The time turns silent (16)
The wind is now quiet (14)
Not telling the truth (15)

The bells no longer ring (17)
Thinking of the divine (20)
My dream almost gone (18)
I cannot rest my head (19)

Then you come to me (21)
With your bashful comma (24)
As if on summoned wings (22)
You free my breaths (23)



4) 1,5,2,6,3,7,4,8

The Lovers are done (1)
No bird singing (5)
No more chatters (2)
I hear no flutter (6)

The voice is mute (3)
My tongue lonely (7)
My lips not moving (4)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The flowers are wilting (9)
Neither whiff nor blow (13)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
The wind is now quiet (14)

The fire is weak (11)
Not telling the truth (15)
No glare and not glowing (12)
The time turns silent (16)

The bells no longer ring (17)
Then you come to me (21)
My dream almost gone (18)
As if on summoned wings (22)

I cannot rest my head (19)
You free my breaths (23)
Thinking of the divine (20)
With your bashful comma (24)




5) 1,2,5,6,3,4,7,8

The Lovers are done (1)
No more chatters (2)
No bird singing (5)
I hear no flutter (6)

The voice is mute (3)
My lips not moving (4)
My tongue lonely (7)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The flowers are wilting (9)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
Neither whiff nor blow (13)
The wind is now quiet (14)

The fire is weak (11)
No glare and not glowing (12)
Not telling the truth (15)
The time turns silent (16)

The bells no longer ring (17)
My dream almost gone (18)
Then you come to me (21)
As if on summoned wings (22)

I cannot rest my head (19)
Thinking of the divine (20)
You free my breaths (23)
With your bashful comma (24)




6) 1, 24, 2,23,3,22,4,21

The Lovers are done (1)
With your bashful comma (24)
No more chatters (2)
You free my breaths (23)

The voice is mute (3)
As if on summoned wings (22)
My lips not moving (4)
Then you come to me (21)

No bird singing (5)
Thinking of the divine (20)
I hear no flutter (6)
I cannot rest my head (19)

My tongue lonely (7)
My dream almost gone (18)
I cannot speak a word (8)
The bells no longer ring (17)

The flowers are wilting (9)
The time turns silent (16)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
Not telling the truth (15)

The fire is weak (11)
The wind is now quiet (14)
No glare and not glowing (12)
Neither whiff nor blow (13)




7) 1,8,2,7,3,6,4,5


The Lovers are done (1)
I cannot speak a word (8)
No more chatters (2)
My tongue lonely (7)

The voice is mute (3)
I hear no flutter (6)
My lips not moving (4)
No bird singing (5)

The flowers are wilting (9)
The time turns silent (16)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
Not telling the truth (15)

The fire is weak (11)
The wind is now quiet (14)
No glare and not glowing (12)
Neither whiff nor blow (13)

The bells no longer ring (17)
With your bashful comma (24)
My dream almost gone (18)
You free my breaths (23)

I cannot rest my head (19)
As if on summoned wings (22)
Thinking of the divine (20)
Then you come to me (21)



8) 1,4,2,5,3,6

The Lovers are done (1)
My lips not moving (4)
No more chatters (2)
No bird singing (5)

The voice is mute (3)
I hear no flutter (6)
My tongue lonely (7)
Pale almost ghostly (10)

I cannot speak a word (8)
The fire is weak (11)
The flowers are wilting (9)
No glare and not glowing (12)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
The time turns silent (16)
The wind is now quiet (14)
The bells no longer ring (17)

Not telling the truth (15)
My dream almost gone (18)
I cannot rest my head (19)
As if on summoned wings (22)

Thinking of the divine (20)
You free my breaths (23)
Then you come to me (21)
With your bashful comma (24)




9) 1,12,2,11,3,10,4,9,5,8,67

The Lovers are done (1)
No glare and not glowing (12)
No more chatters (2)
The fire is weak (11)

The voice is mute (3)
Pale almost ghostly (10)
My lips not moving (4)
The flowers are wilting (9)

No bird singing (5)
I cannot speak a word (8)
I hear no flutter (6)
My tongue lonely (7)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
With your bashful comma (24)
The wind is now quiet (14)
You free my breaths (23)

Not telling the truth (15)
As if on summoned wings (22)
The time turns silent (16)
Then you come to me (21)

The bells no longer ring (17)
Thinking of the divine (20)
My dream almost gone (18)
I cannot rest my head (19)




10) 1,7,2,8,3,9,4,10,5,11,6,12


The Lovers are done (1)
My tongue lonely (7)
No more chatters (2)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The voice is mute (3)
The flowers are wilting (9)
My lips not moving (4)
Pale almost ghostly (10)

No bird singing (5)
The fire is weak (11)
I hear no flutter (6)
No glare and not glowing (12)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
I cannot rest my head (19)
The wind is now quiet (14)
Thinking of the divine (20)

Not telling the truth (15)
Then you come to me (21)
The time turns silent (16)
As if on summoned wings (22)

The bells no longer ring (17)
You free my breaths (23)
My dream almost gone (18)
With your bashful comma (24)

[miyako73]

11) 1,6,2,5,3,4,7,12

The Lovers are done (1)
I hear no flutter (6)
No more chatters (2)
No bird singing (5)

The voice is mute (3)
My lips not moving (4)
My tongue lonely (7)
No glare and not glowing (12)

I cannot speak a word (8)
The fire is weak (11)
The flowers are wilting (9)
Pale almost ghostly (10)

Neither whiff nor blow (13)
My dream almost gone (18)
The wind is now quiet (14)
The bells no longer ring (17)

Not telling the truth (15)
The time turns silent (16)
I cannot rest my head (19)
With your bashful comma (24)

Thinking of the divine (20)
You free my breaths (23)
Then you come to me (21)
As if on summoned wings (22)




12) 1,3,5,7,2,4,6,8

The Lovers are done (1)
The voice is mute (3)
No bird singing (5)
My tongue lonely (7)

No more chatters (2)
My lips not moving (4)
I hear no flutter (6)
I cannot speak a word (8)

The flowers are wilting (9)
The fire is weak (11)
Neither whiff nor blow (13)
Not telling the truth (15)

Pale almost ghostly (10)
No glare and not glowing (12)
The wind is now quiet (14)
The time turns silent (16)

The bells no longer ring (17)
I cannot rest my head (19)
Then you come to me (21)
You free my breaths (23)

My dream almost gone (18)
Thinking of the divine (20)
As if on summoned wings (22)
With your bashful comma (24)

[miyako73]

This poem, it seems, has been lampooned and slighted by the unlearned. I just cannot stay idle while someone, out of cluelessness, considers my two-day toil thoughtless. This poem is an exercise of limitation and permutation. I limited myself to the vocabulary of Villa's 1942 poem (published and anthologized in the US):

Lyric 17

I can no more hear Love’s
Voice. No more moves
The mouth of her. Birds
No more sing. Words
I speak return lonely.
Flowers I pick turn ghostly.
Fire that I burn glows
Pale. No more blows
The wind. Time tells
No more truth. Bells
Ring no more in me.
I am all alone singly.
Lonely rests my head.
—O my God! I am dead.

For extra challenge, I had to make my lines generic so they could have at least 12 permutations/combinations and elicit unique thoughts not in the original poem and to incorporate his other poem below:


The Bashful One



,





Sorry if my mood nowadays is into experimenting. I get tired of writing the same stuff and forms again and again. Challenge is a good teacher.

Also, if E.E. Cummings dedicated a poem to Jose Garcia Villa, the guy (Villa) must have been a member of the literary circle of their period not like your unpublished ordinary Joe lurking in an online literary forum.