A Villanelle

By Robert J. Nutt

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

The games have changed; the rules are all remade.

When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

They twist the past to fit their modern ways.

What once was firm is now a blurred charade.

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

A thousand voices shape the roles we play.

Yet rules are made, then twisted and betrayed.

When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

Each fleeting truth dissolves in subtle haze.

What’s false is true if spoken and obeyed.

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

We build new paths that lead us where we strayed.

Yet none can say which path must be portrayed.

When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

What truth remains will shift as culture sways.

We trace the past, but all the lines are frayed.

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.