The Girton Poetry Group

Not Averse

Exam Room Villanelle

I fear I am not in my perfect mind:

As examiners so cruelly,

In the chilling hall where I’m confined,

Tell us to start the task assigned

For three grim hours.  For my degree

I fear I am not in my perfect mind

As I try to get my brain on line,

Searching amongst my fact-debris.

In the inky hall where I’m confined

As my pen moves blankly line to line

Controlled by the wrist of an amputee,

I fear I am not in my perfect mind.

The questions posed are so unkind:

Parse—calculate—discuss …  I see

In the panic hall where I’m confined

My friends have piled up eight or nine

Close-written sheets, but as for me

I fear I am not in my perfect mind

In the lonely hall where I’m confined.