I wrote this poem when I was an undergrad. I was taking Creative Writing II, and we had to write a poem using a traditional form. At the time, I had never done that before, but I was always a big fan of villanelles, so I decided to write one. I was going through one of my many Edgar Allen Poe phases, and kind of liked how the form could be used to simulate the redundant thought of intense stress. I'll admit that I now find it a bit cheesy, but I'm a fan of cheesy horror, so I still like this poem.
Another thing I wanna note is that, where I grew up, there really was a graveyard that was built around a set of train tracks, so that was my other inspiration.
Train Tracks
I wish to sleep in my wooden bed.
The evening train screams its angry song.
In the night I feel eternal dread.
I cannot feel the pounding in my head.
Did I descend for a life gone wrong?
I wish to sleep in my wooden bed.
What was the error in the life I led?
In the wooden bed where I now belong,
In the night I feel eternal dread.
Sound once would sooth, now I suffer instead.
Now I am pained by its shrieks, so long.
I wish to sleep in my wooden bed.
My fallen reason hangs on by a thread.
Devoured by a mind that was once strong.
In the night I feel eternal dread.
Delusions of my grandness are now shed.
Did I see this coming all along?
I wish to sleep in my wooden bed.
But it is always night. I feel eternal dread.