The Girl in the Red Dress

• A villanelle is a French verse form in nineteen lines that follows a specific pattern of two rhymes and an alternating refrain.

I stay searching for the girl in the red dress 
With wounded beauty – wings clipped – she flew
Oh, why could I not see the cause of her distress? 

On her soft hands, a vermillion gash tainting her caress
With wavering strength – a tumble – yet how graceful too
I stay searching for the girl in the red dress 

A leaf – a twig – craving her touch, clinging on any tress
With quivering lips – stained perhaps? – a crimson hue
Oh, why could I not see the cause of her distress? 

A weight I saw, her frail shoulders collapsed in duress
With bright watering eyes – a tint of red – tears soaked through
I stay searching for the girl in the red dress 

White as the moon, pale with fear – the ghost of an empress
With crumbling pride – chin up – was it a knife she rued?
Oh, why could I not see the cause of her distress? 

I felt her pain pierce my soul. I didn’t help, I confess!
Don’t look at me, friends, a shell of a man stands before you
I stay searching for the girl in the red dress 
Oh, why could I not see the cause of her distress?

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