Today my first villanelle of a poem and a Friendly Friday photo walk around Ljubljana with my sister on a lovely October day.
First, I wish to say that despite my angry sonnet yesterday, I have loved all the NaPoWriMo prompts so far (except yesterday’s, that is). I look forward to each new one. Today I get to write my first villanelle with such a complicated structure that I had to read three to get it. Exciting!
Also I love mash-ups of all sorts. The favourite I’ve done features selected English and American poets vs. Jim Morrison (pure mash, without any added content).
As I read what we were about to do, I immediately thought of two song lyrics that I had memorised a long time ago. They don’t contradict each other, rather they blend together well, and this is the only point where I won’t follow directions.
As I checked the second one online to see if I’d memorised it correctly, I had a bit of a shock. I’ve been hearing and singing it wrong all these years. Sorry, Aussies, I just had to keep my wrong lyrics in. Only in the last stanza I used the correct words. (But the last line is purposefully wrong again.) Have a look.
Challenge Five: “Write a poem that incorporates at least one of the following: (1) the villanelle form, (2) lines taken from an outside text, and/or (3) phrases that oppose each other in some way.”
Misheard
Women know and men wonder.
What is it that
the men don’t know but the little girls understand?
Better be gone than be right.
Is this what
women know and men wonder?
Listen to the sound of the howling wind.
You might guess what
the men don’t know but the little girls understand.
Can you imagine how angry it makes them?
A simple fact that
women know and men wonder.
The truth of the night.
We claim it. It's ours. This is what
the men don’t know but the little girls understand:
“I’m a back door man
living in a land down under
where women glow and men plunder.
The men know but the little girls don’t understand.”
- Back Door Man, by Howlin’ Wolf / The Doors
- Down Under, by Men at Work.
As I told my sister recently, we have the shaman’s disease and when we are 70 and 77 years old, we will have a travelling sister act called Shamanina and Shamanya. Can’t wait.
Until then we are catching moments, and the day of the photo walk around our city of origin, Ljubljana in Slovenia, which I have chosen for Snow Melts Somewhere’s Friendly Friday photo challenge, was one such. To many more!
And finally, today I happened to open my own yesterday’s post on my phone instead of my laptop which I usually use for blogging, and was appalled to find not one, not two, but THREE WordPress ads in one post. I mean, really? All were for cashing in on my blog. “Double your income!” If my income is 0, doubled wouldn’t improve the situation much, would it?? Are you seeing that in every post?
For Friendly Friday Photo Challenge hosted by The Snow Melts Somewhere
and for Day 5 of NaPoWriMo
ADD-IT: Only today I have learned that over at the dVerse ~ Poets Pub they celebrate the villanelle this month so I’ve thought to link my first ever there as well. Looking forward to reading some by others when I have a moment. This poetry month means business.
I absolutely love the poem and how you handled today’s task, I love mash-ups and I adore misheard lyrics! Also, photo captions were on point once again 🙂
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Thank you, Oloriel, it was fun to do it. 🙂 I was reading your About me today, and loved it, and then happened upon the part where you say that you live in Belgrade. 😀 I’m Slovenian (and about one eighth Serbian). Are you Serbian? Doesn’t change a thing, I only found it funny because I didn’t see it coming…
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Yes, I am Serbian, and I do have a few Slovenian cousins 🙂
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Great to hear! Živela! 😀
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I loved the pink church and the last photo of your Ljubljana. I would love to be on that green slope, falling asleep as that guy :))
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Hihi, thanks, Marina. This guy was surely on to something there… 😀 I hope you can visit it one day.
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A zen moment in this busy life))
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I adore the idea of paintings in the park ❤ Those old tile-stoves are pretty, we also have many of them in old buildings in Finland. Even some apartment buildings in Helsinki still have the original stoves, I would love to own an apartment with one but as you can imagine, they are very expensive.
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Thank you, Suvi. I will make another post one day with just the paintings. They were splendid, only of Slovenian painters. Oh, my sister has a stove like this in her home, it was there when we bought it. I don’t think it has ever been lighted though.
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Great sources for your poem!
love the graffiti too (K)
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Thank you, K. Learning of the correct lyrics to Down Under was a highlight of my day. 😀 “Women glow and men plunder”?? Who’d have thought of this?
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Wise words.
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Women glow and men perspire, and only horses sweat. I always assumed it was to do with that, but thinking about it again, probably not…
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Hihh, Sarah, it seems that this poem is a bottomless fountain of misheard lyrics. 😀 Your take is intriguing too. Thanks for sharing!
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Do you miss your Ljubljana? (Look at me, I even know how to spell it now, thanks to your posts!) The “women know and men wonder” photo makes me laugh – he certainly looks a bit confused (masking it in a manly way trying to look wise). I love that Down Under song – but must admit I never paid attention to the lyrics (except the part about the Vegemite sandwich). As for ads, I don’t see any on yours, but on my own I do! 😀
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Don’t tell me you like Vegemite, Snow?
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I don’t!! Yuck. But my grandma does, my aunt in Sydney sends it over regularly!
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Well, I will tell you a secret if you don’t spread it around ( pun intended, ha!) I actually hate it. I can smell it a mile away if the lid is left off in the kitchen. It is awful! LOL. Some Aussie, hey?
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Hehe, SMSW, you’re goood! 😉 First you learn to spell it, then you arrive! Thank you, I’m glad you like it. I was so happy to see it in the autumn colour scheme for the first time after 5 years. I miss it, sure, but I miss my people more. One more month and we go there again. 🙂 I had to google Vegemite. 😀 I see Amanda has a question for you about it. 😉
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(And good to hear about no ads. It seems they try to sell it to ourselves only! :D)
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A student tells me the one country she likes to visit is Slovenia. She’s only 14. I thought it was a great thing to wish.
Loved that poem…and the fish.
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Ahh, this is so endearing, Bojana. Does she have any connection with Slovenia? The land of her parents perhaps? Or has she chosen it just like that? Thank you for telling me about her. 🙂 And the fish. 😀
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None, whatsoever. When I asked-no Greece, Spain, southern sun? No, she said, I like the mountains and it seems like a perfect place to be.
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I am impressed you know our unofficial National Anthem, Manja! I think every Australia knows those lyrics and changes them to rhyme with chunder/plunder/wonder/asunder or whatever they like! Do you know the controversy over that song and how it has send the singer bankrupt? the photo caption, “Ai shiteru you not!!” is classic Manja and gave me a early morning belly laugh.A great way to start the day. Was that a disused Nato nuclear bunker [Roswell], I see? Loved the Autumn leaves photos in the park and the ornate wooden balustrade on Restored Švicarija house and restaurant. You do entice me to visit Slovenia more and more. It is always such a delight to visit your blog, and NB no sight of any ads anywhere!
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Oh, Amanda, I don’t know anything about that! I know I could google it but please, tell me in short. I’ve known this song from the start and always enjoyed it. That’s why I was so amazed to learn the correct lyrics today. That bunker is not NATO, maybe left by the Yugoslav army. I’m glad you had a chuckle and that you’re enticed to visit. We never know such things. 🙂 Thank you and always welcome!
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Any Australian worth his salt, knows the tune back to front. I don’t know if you have noticed, but in the vocals break within the song, they used a ditty played by a flute – part of this flute riff of “Down Under” was copied from “Kookaburra” a song originally written in 1932 by a woman who died in the eighties. The rights to the kookaburra song was generally thought to be in the public domain. Unfortunately the rights were bought by a US company 28 years after the release of Down Under, and who sought damages due to copyright infringement and won. This has bankrupted the band, Colin Hay (lead singer) and the flautist. Colin Hay’s has stated the legal challenges and copyright issues contributed to the death of his father and the flautist, Greg Ham. To me, it was simply an opportunity for the new owner to make a grab for money from a successful band and song. The personal fallout was immeasurable. Colin Hays has since recorded the song again, without the kookaburra flute jingle. It is awful state of affairs to think that copyright issues could have such a financial and personal impact whilst another person who contributed nothing to either song, gets rewarded by the courts. But good to know that the song still lives on in people’s minds the world over. We still love the song and Colin Hays!
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Thank you so much! This is such a sad tale. I’m glad that you still love the song and him. Surely it’s symbolic of our times.
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Yes. Men chundering and the beer flowing. Lol. Australia should be a land of plenty.
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(And I’m really glad about no ads!!)
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I, too, had a good chuckle from the ‘Ai shiteru you not’. This was a cool challenge, and I liked the way you incorporated your verses AND match them so well with your photos. Nice!
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Thank you, Lindsay. 😀 I’ve had plenty of fun with this one, especially at learning the correct lyrics after all these years. (I have no idea what Ai shiteru yo means. I suppose I should google it…)
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Ohh, I had a look, it means I love you! ❤
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Well done! I tried a mashup but it wasn’t going well, so I gave up on it. Your photos are always so interesting. You have a good eye. (maybe even two!)
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Thank you, Maggie. 😀 There are two indeed. The vision is more like 10/10 but so far so good. 😉 I’m glad to hear you like my photos too.
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Such a fun mashup/Villanelle–your first!
And how lovely, you’ve discovered dVerse, too. 🙂
Your photos are wonderful.
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Thank you so much, Merril! 🙂 Oh, I discovered dVerse same time last year already but haven’t posted there since, except about a month ago when I wrote my first pantoum. I love learning new things about poetry and trying them out. Always welcome!
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No, no ads. Just lots of great photos, plus your clever poem.
Sorry to tell you – as a dinkum Aussie – the words have obviously been tidied up a bit since the original, which claimed that here Down Under ‘men roar and women thunder’.
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Thank you, Rosemary, this is good news. I’m glad that you like what you found here. Nothing would surprise me regarding this song any more. 😀 Always welcome!
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I love this! Lyrics.com has surprised me quite a times with songs I’d misheard. And your photos are magnificent. Putting a visit on my bucket list.
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Thank you so much, Victoria! I’m so glad you like my (ex) city and my first villanelle. Always welcome, to my blog and there as well. 🙂
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Great repeating lines, and congratulations on your first villanelle! I hope you enjoyed the form – thank you for sharing on dVerse.
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Thank you so much, Sarah! Oh yes, I have enjoyed it tremendously and I’m sure I’ll write more when the time is right. Thank you for your visit and words!
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I like the way you have quoted one of my favourite Australian songs here. Your interpretation is very creative. As an Australian I always thought that the word ‘glow’ was used in the old fashioned Australian sense that it is a polite way of saying sweating. As for the plundering I thought it was about the men working in the mines. Seeing it as a men exploiting women is a great interpretation that fits with the times we live in.
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Thank you, Suzanne! 🙂 I’d never guess in a million years what the correct lyrics are. 😀 I’m glad I checked it out before writing the poem!
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The kind of poem that can scare one witless.
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😀 Thank you, Petru. I’d take this as a compliment. I must be kept on a short leash or things could get problematic. 😉
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Things have to be said. Cut loose from the leash altogether.
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