Villanelle to a Fickle Muse

By David Blumenfeld

She loves you with a burning flame

but spending passion quickly

she jilts you just the same.

She soon returns from where she came,

no longer spent and sickly.

Renewed, she loves you with a torrid flame.

Yet she can never nature tame,

it’s coy and ever prickly.

So once again she jilts you just the same.

Her gifts are worthy of their fame.

Expended generous- and prolifically,

she loves you (when she loves you) with a fervid flame.

Round and round, this Lass of great acclaim

loves but only fickly,

loving first then jilting just the same.

She fills your heart with endless pain.

Lavishing gifts erratically,

she loves you with a searing flame,

and then she jilts you just the same.

---

David Blumenfeld is a former philosophy professor who resumed writing literature after a break of more than forty years. Since 2022, he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize three times. One of his pieces received a “notable essay” mention in The Best American Essays 2023, another was featured in The Best American Haiku 2023, and 12 of his works were finalists or received other high praise in literary magazines.