Songbird: A Villanelle

Lirena was a songbird born of yore
Who dearly loved her husband everyday;
She sings her songs of contentment no more.

An adversary’s troops ransacked the shore,
A ruthless marauding they did display;
Lirena was a songbird born of yore.

Her loving husband whom she did adore
Abducted mercilessly from the fray;
She sings her songs of victory no more.

She trailed the captor’s ship on raft with oar,
Enduring stormy gales and restless waves;
Lirena was a songbird born of yore.

Making landfall, sprinting upshore,
In tearful attempt to plead and persuade,
She sung her people’s secret song of yore.

But the Adversary had no remorse,
Her beloved was already in decay.
Lirena is a songbird of long forgotten lore;
She sings her songs of compunction forevermore.