[David Landrum]

Here's a great villanelle by Wendy Cope. I think it is the form that gives the content so much impact. It is a mixture of humor and sadness:

Lonely Hearts

Can someone make my simple wish come true?
Male biker seeks female for touring fun.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Gay vegetarian whose friends are few,
I'm into music, Shakespeare and the sun,
Can someone make my simple wish come true?

Executive in search of something new—
Perhaps bisexual woman, arty, young.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Successful, straight, and solvent? I am too—
Attractive Jewish lady with a son.
Can someone make my simple wish come true?

I'm Libran, inexperienced and blue—
Need slim non-smoker under twenty-one.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Please write (with photo) to Box 152.
Who knows where it may lead once we've begun?
Can someone make my simple wish come true?
Do you live in North London? Is it you?
----Wendy Cope

By the way, everyone be sure to read my villanelle, "At Rocky's Bar," which will be in the next issue of The Barefoot Muse. I was astonished to see it made it in when so many other were rejected.