Vernal Villanelle

Wayward and tempestuous teen,
your tomfool tricks fool nary a soul.
As fitful as a jumping bean,

you’re slyly making meadows green,
yet squalls drive the woodchuck to its hole.
Wayward and tempestuous teen,

your hocus-pocus, quite unseen,
makes downpours soak us and ferns unroll.
As fitful as a jumping bean,

you make the caterpillar keen
to pupate and the oriole
to trill. Tempestuous, wayward teen—

warm, then cold, then warm (so mean!)—
you guide the bee to her sugary goal,
pull the moth from its jumping bean,

find a home for the termite queen
but shake the branch and rock the bole—
wayward and tempestuous teen,
fitful as a jumping bean!


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