Occasional Poetry - 70. Forgotten: a Villanelle

Pay no attention to the man in grey

his rumpled face unworthy of much note,

ignore him and perhaps he'll go away

to bother someone else with vacant stare

and ordinary weatherbeaten coat;

pay no attention to the man in grey

who sits without permission in the square,

his rheumy-eyed expression quite remote,

ignore him and perhaps he'll go away;

maybe he has some kinfolk who might dare

explain the reasons why they never wrote;

pay no attention to the man in grey,

for if we kindly offer him our chair

the guilt we feel may catch us in the throat -

ignore him and perhaps he'll go away;

his presence breaks our peace beyond repair,

demolishes our parapets and moat;

pay no attention to the man in grey -

ignore him, and perhaps he'll go away.