The Cynic’s Valentine (A Villanelle)
There is no romance in my soul.
I have no love for valentines.
A diamond's just a lump of coal --
A shiny rock. Ho hum. How droll.
(They're best left buried in the mines.)
There is no romance in my soul.
My chest's a vast and empty hole.
Now peer inside its dark confines:
A diamond's just a lump of coal;
On Beauty's face, a hairy mole;
The mating call of porcupines.
There is no romance in my soul.
My bitterness, my birth control --
Imbibed my body weight in wines.
A diamond's just a lump of coal.
So please return the heart you stole.
('Cause since you took it, nothing shines.)
There is no romance in my soul.
A diamond's just a lump of coal.