slaughtered history

it was the age of foolishness¹
that’s what the history books will say
all this happened, more or less²

they’ll paint us crazy, dupes at best,
the folks who lost their minds and way
it was the age of foolishness¹

mistreatment of the poor, oppressed,
innocents lost, locked away
all this happened, more or less²

our frozen hearts put to the test
found wanting, as we vowed to pray
it was the age of foolishness¹

leaving future kin to guess
how we, so easily were swayed
all this happened, more or less²

leaving them a bloody mess
with astronomical debt to pay
it was the age of foolishness¹
all this happened, more or less²

~kat

Not my favorite form, though I might have liked it better if not for so many added restraints on the form. Still I managed to pen a villanelle: A¹bA² abA¹ abA² abA¹ abA² abA¹A² where letters (“a” and “b”) indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain (“A”), and superscript numerals (¹ and ²) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2,  for NaPoWritMo #5 Prompt: write a poem that incorporates at least one of the following: (1) the villanelle form, (2) lines taken from an outside text, and/or (3) phrases that oppose each other in some way.

Outside Verse References:
¹-Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
²-Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.