Annecy (a villanelle)

Forgive me now I have a chance,

I’ll leave to you this last address.

I hope to meet again in France.

I return to you as these years advance,

left only with a lingering ghost to caress.

Forgive me now I have a chance. 

We were destined for a lifelong dance, 

but collapsed stages withhold success.

I hope to meet again in France. 

The screened doors of a ruined romance

once mine, now to never possess.

Forgive me now I have a chance.

If you could spare but one glance.

To see you now, I won’t repress.

I hope to meet again in France.

At the Pont des Amours, in a trance

with only nature to witness me confess.

Forgive me now I have a chance.

I hope to meet again in France.