Villanelle – Lucy Jayes

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

I have a superpower of my own
No matter how hard you knock
I can pretend no one is home
One thousand miles each way I have roamed
eyes forward like a yoked ox
I have a superpower of my own

Writing decay, anguish to loam
protected by a fence handmade of rocks
I can pretend no one is home

Blaming inheritance of my genome
believing there’s time left on my clock
I have a superpower of my own
Memories hide in a catacomb
Among the tunnels my mind never walks
I can pretend no one is home

My only wish: to be left alone
place your messages into the box
I have a superpower of my own
I can pretend no one is home



Lucy has fostered a love of writing since she was old enough to hold a pen. She graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Kentucky in 2014. During college, she interned for Ace Weekly magazine with a primary focus on covering local events and happenings in the food and beverage industry in Lexington. Upon graduating, she moved to Denver, CO and worked in nonprofit fundraising and event planning and as a conference manager and journalist for a trade magazine covering the legal cannabis industry. She is a first year MFA student at the University of Kentucky and focused on Creative Nonfiction writing.

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