Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas by ManRay
repeat meanings change – day – spring – rose three five
times – dans le jardins – á Rue de Fleurus
he the eyes lived there – Bateau-Lavoir dive
Alice said – served with brownies – he’d arrive
all came – all poets – all – who would know us
repeating – forms – sit beside & revive
so modern – rules learned – who else could connive
to smash shards symbols altered new rebus
one with eyes – lived there – Bateau-Lavoir dive
generation lost in image – words – live
salon – kindness – art – food – give – generous
repeating – forms – sit beside & revive
drawn in paint – etch song – brush dance – he’d derive
square, cube, block out, heads turn and minds focus
one with eyes – lived there – Bateau-Lavoir dive
exotic – genius – women friends – alive
nurturers of new – finders of find-us
he the eyes, beyond – Bateau-Lavoir dive
repeating – forms – sit beside & revive
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 5/31/12
villanelle as free verse to fit ideas of repetition and novelty
posted for #FormForAll hosted by Sam Peralta
* Bateau Lavoire – name of house where Picasso lived 1901 – 1910 Montmartre Paris
27 Rue de Fleurus – the home of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas – her collection of modern art displayed there and shown at her salons.
