. . . I digress
All Items of Value Have Been Removed… . a Holbeck villanelle
I saw this poster on a door on my travels a couple of days ago. They are everywhere around where I live. Some days it does feel as if there’s nothing much worthwhile left in this part of town, it’s all been relocated, boarded up, or bulldozed to dust. Anyway, I’ve been fiddling with complex verse forms recently (and they don’t come much more fiddly than the villanelle, nineteen lines turning on just two rhymes, and a couple of the lines are repeated three times) and I liked the idea of something so structured and artificial containing words about rubble and rubbish. It’s not exactly “Do not go gentle into that good night,” but it only took me a lunchtime … and those rhymes are damned near impossible. You try to get six end rhymes for “Removed!”
The occupants quietly relocated;
Please be patient while Holbeck is improved
Through consultation, no fuss created;
All items of value have been removed.
Back to backs weren’t fit, high rise blocks unloved
Because social housing is outdated.
Please be patient while Holbeck is improved.
Conditions were grim, people felt abused
And this bit of South Leeds all but hated;
All items of value have been removed.
Change had to come, progress can’t be refused
So in the end the homes were confiscated.
Please be patient while Holbeck is improved.
Punches were pulled, the fist was velvet gloved
But developers can’t be frustrated.
All items of value have been removed.
