Michael Shindler is a DC writer whose work has been published in outlets such as Townhall, Washington Examiner, The Hill, and Real Clear Defense. A graduate of Rutgers University, where he studied economics and political science, he is an alumnus of the Charles Koch Institute’s policy fellowship and America’s Future Foundation’s writing fellowship programs. We’re pleased to print below a villanelle that he shared at the Poets’ Corner@Tunnnicliff’s open-mic reading in May.
Before Night Climbs
Before night climbs over the barricade,
And impels men to hoist-up flags of white,
Enshroud the silence in a serenade.
The youth has dropped his battle-bloodied blade.
There is not now enough light left to fight,
Before night climbs over the barricade.
The corpses of incorruptible kings are laid.
Their subjects unite and with trump-blasts bright
Enshroud the silence in a serenade.
The city wilts under young slumber’s shade.
All partake in a final dulcet rite,
Before night climbs over the barricade.
The frost settles upon the valley-glade.
The world-weary winds and the woodland sprite
Enshroud the silence in a serenade.
The hour is nigh and all prayers are prayed.
The daughter of the chasm has taken flight.
Before night climbs over the barricade,
Enshroud the silence in a serenade.
If you would like to have your poem considered for publication, please send it to klyon@literaryhillbookfest.org. (There is no remuneration.)
