Jim Dunlap Poet Villanelle

After the Storm

Rainwater stands in rippling pools, or trickles by.
Sharp fusillades of hail pelt down...and glance --
Far distant thunder calls, and echoes a reply.

Sunshine, streaming through the clouds, lights up the sky;
Like sunlight, shattered by a prism, rainbows dance --
Rainwater stands in rippling pools, or trickles by.

In search of worms, a daring robin, keen and spry --
As warbling songbirds greet a pristine world, entranced.
Far distant thunder calls, to echo a reply.

The earth seems, here and there, to nearly liquify --
Stray raindrops falling, glisten...happenstance.
Rainwater stands in rippling pools, or trickles by.

In full glorious bloom, wildflowers revivify...
Like tiny armies, windswept, sway and prance;
While distant thunder calls, to echo a reply.

Rows of thunderheads, arraigned, withdraw on high --
While shadows flee -- daylight makes swift advance.
Rainwater stands in rippling pools, or trickles by;
While distant thunder calls, to echo a reply.


Previously published in Lyrical Iowa, 1993



Written March 27th, 2005

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Jim Dunlap March 30, 2024 at 8:05 PM Cher Sotto poet, you made my day. I particularly appreciate your kind review. Sotto Poet March 31, 2024 at 9:53 AM Thank you for your kind words, dear Jim. As a lover of Villanelles, I believe it truly deserves all the applause. I forgot to mention that it is also one of my favorites. Happy Easter

Sotto Poet March 30, 2024 at 7:33 PM This beautiful villanelle captures the awe-inspiring essence of nature, particularly centered on a rainstorm and its aftermath. It vividly portrays the elements of rainwater, hail, thunder, sunlight, rainbows, birds, and flowers. You employ expressive and vibrant language to create a visual representation of a rainstorm and its impacts. Words like "rippling," "trickles," "hail," "thunder," "sunshine," "shattered," "dance," "warbling," "glisten," and "revivify" have the power to awaken the senses and paint vivid pictures in our minds. Poetry devices like alliteration (sharp fusillades of hail), simile (sunlight, shattered by a prism), and personification (the earth appears to almost liquefy) are also employed to enrich the poem. Jim Dunlap March 30, 2024 at 8:20 PM Cher Sotto Poet, I don't know if you got the previous comment or not. so I am writing again. That was a wonderful review and I appreciate it greatly. Mille fois merci.

Duke Beaufort March 29, 2024 at 7:16 AM Jim, this describes a storm and rain in an imaginative way that causes me to think about what I see in a slightly different light. The images are wonderful. I can't wait for a thunderstorm or series of them so I can listen to the distant calls. You don't have a lot published here so I was able to read it all. I recently retired and have time for this fun. It's really a relief from the grind of everyday work life. Jim Dunlap March 30, 2024 at 8:12 PM Thanks much for the kind words Duke. I am particularly fond of this villanelle. I wrote it when I was having a dark night of the soul experience and it was meant to lighten my darkness of the time. Mille fois merci.

Andrea Dietrich December 2, 2020 at 2:48 PM oh are you in Iowa? I see you published with an Iowan magazine. I am from there but that was so many years ago. This is a very good example of the form, Jim. Jim Dunlap December 3, 2020 at 10:26 PM Where are you from in Iowa? Thanks for the kind words. ;)

Silent One December 2, 2020 at 8:26 AM You did the form very well.. it flows and rhymes perfectly..