Like a winding staircase your stare knows

how to penetrate the depths of me.

I think I love you, so the old song goes.

My fierce unconscious hiding habit owes

its strength to my particular history,

a long winding staircase. Your stare knows

how to bypass all the well-armed rows

of guardians in my secret galaxy

I think. I love you, so the old song goes,

because your raid has opened what was closed,

an unexpected doorway to break free

up a winding staircase—your stare. No is

impossible as now between us flows

the delicate magic of transparency.

I think I love you so! The old song goes

on and on, a fact itself that shows

what is true will last eternally

like a winding staircase. Your stare knows,

I think, I love you. So the old song goes.

This poetic form is called a villanelle. It is marked by a strict pattern of the alternating repetition of the first and third lines of the opening stanza, and it only allows a total of two end rhymes throughout the entire poem. My goal in this poem was to try and achieve maximum variation with the repeating lines in language that sounded as natural as possible. It was also a chance to give a shout out to David Cassidy (1950-2017) who passed away at the end of November. He made famous the song I Think I Love You (written by Tony Romeo) back in the Partridge Family days of the 70's.

Photo Credit: Chris Carroll, Pixabay.com, CCO Creative License, no attribution required.