Variation on a Theme by Agha Shahid Ali II

One must have a place to store the darkness.

It can be no common house, no modest room.

The heart will prove sufficient, a palace.

Where Eurydice stood is an abyss.

The emptiness consumed the stars, the moon.

One must have a place to store the darkness.

Sing of her once more, dear Orpheus.

What can contain the measure of that tune?

The heart will prove sufficient, a palace.

The song ended, the story went amiss.

The lyre's chord faded with the afternoon.

One must have a place to store the darkness.

They now long for the past, its lost promise.

What will house it better than a tomb?

The heart will prove sufficient, a palace.

No wealth of love to which we raise a chalice,

Just a penance to which no one can attune.

One must have a place to store the darkness.

The heart will prove sufficient, a palace.

Note: The opening line of this villanelle, repeated three times, was written by Agha Shahid Ali.