Villain in Hell – a #villanelle

No villain in hell could tell such blatant lies;
inciting the people to embrace tyranny:
With words of hate the power of progress dies.

I see no sentient soul behind those eyes
inviting destruction of democracy: 
No villain in hell could tell such blatant lies.

We must not be too blind to realise
the power of the vote’s fragility:
With words of hate the power of progress dies.

Across the networks roll the rallying cries;
hashtags and feedback loops of infamy:
No villain in hell could tell such blatant lies.

And I stand on the sidelines, neither wise
nor prophesying doom, yet still I see:
With words of hate the power of progress dies.

Now is the time to unite in the ties
that bind together love, humanity:
No villain in hell could tell such blatant lies;
With words of hate the power of progress dies.

© Experimentsinfiction 2021, All Rights Reserved

About this poem

I couldn’t watch the events of yesterday unfold without offering up some kind of commentary. I think these events will live on in the annals of infamy. As I’m exploring the villanelle form this week, I couldn’t resist the play on words. A play on words with a serious message. Incidentally, the word villanelle derives from the same route as the word ‘villain,’ though a medieval villein was was a common villager rather that a malignant ne’er-do-well. I am of course employing the modern sense of the word. Posted for dVerse Open Link Night.