Melissa Balmain, ‘Fatal Mistakes’

The pill you’re sure is good for you,
the mole you think you can neglect,
the ache you blame on winter flu:
it’s always what you least expect.

The mat that pads your shower floor,
the flight you take from home, direct,
the car that’s never stalled before:
it’s always what you least expect.

The oddly coiffed New York tycoon
whom no one ever would elect
because he’s nutty as a loon . . .
it’s always what you least expect.

from Satan Talks to His Therapist, by Melissa Balmain (Paul Dry Books, 2023).

Melissa Balmain writes: “In light-verse workshops, writers are sometimes surprised when I suggest trying forms that weren’t designed for funny stuff (unlike, say, limericks or double dactyls). But comic poets can get a lot of mileage out of “serious” forms, from sonnets to sestinas–especially if their humor tends to skew dark. For anxious or obsessive topics, I’m often drawn to repeating forms like the villanelle, rondeau, or (in this case) the kyrielle. The challenge lies in finding ways to surprise the reader even though they know the line that’s coming.”

Melissa Balmain’s third poetry collection, Satan Talks to His Therapist, is available from Paul Dry Books (and from all the usual retail empires). Balmain is the editor-in-chief of Light, America’s longest-running journal of light verse, and has been a member of the University of Rochester’s English Department since 2010. She is a recovering mime.

“Pratfall” by Life Imitates Doodles is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.