Month of Poetry #9: On Collaboration (For Tumnus, a ethical faun in spite of himself)

The third of my Narnia poems … trying it as a villanelle.

in the abstract, it all sounded well
what is a human child to me, after all?
for the safety it would buy, so small to sell.

doubts, if any, were not hard to quell
my love of my own safety didn’t pall
in the abstract, it all sounded well.

I knew, I knew, the whispers that would tell
if I ever tried to hide, or even stall
for the safety it would buy, so small to sell.

I think I knew her first by her unchancy smell
cinnamon, and honey, and remembered caul
in the abstract, it all sounded well.

but sitting by my fireside, I saw hell
in handing over innocence in thrall
for the safety it would buy, so small to sell.

and now I hear in every wind, the bell
and wait, and wait, and wait for pain to fall
in the abstract, it all sounded well
for the safety it would buy, so small to sell.

- Kathy, 9/1/14