Let’s begin again, begin the begin
Do you feel just like starting over?
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
Nothing is wrong if you only win
are you in need of a makeover?
Let’s begin again, begin the begin
I think we missed the original sign
Was it not repeated, over and over?
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
Do you think that I’m a pushover?
Let’s begin again, begin the begin
Sinking deep into the brine
did you stop to smell the clover?
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
Start, stop, and start again
Is this the starting or the finish line?
Let’s begin again, begin the begin
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
- Kevin Oliver
National Poetry Writing Month 2019: prompt was to write a villanelle with several elements–use of ‘borrowed’ lines (example was from song lyrics, which is where I also cribbed from with a couple of R.E.M. lines), creating an ‘opposition’ between the two main repeated lines. Poem title comes from a different song by R.E.M.
Kevin Oliver Poetry 