If you haven’t heard of villanelles before, you’ve been missing out on some great poetry. And yet at the same time, most people have heard of Villanelles without knowing it: “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas is one of the most famous examples – and one that has stuck with me for years since someone recited it in rebellion on a rooftop.
Steve Chaplin, better known to BBO Members as BBOer “Fred Rogers” happens to be an apt writer of the famed villanelle. While he doesn’t usually write bridge poetry, he did create a villanelle, or as he calls it — a “plinchanelle” — especially for BBOers.
To be read in a strong Southern accent:
“Well, I declare!”
I need to get her king to drop
—or make her partner mis-defend.
I think this board could be a top!
First, I pause and pointedly prop
my coffee where it won’t upend.
I need to get her king to drop.
I eye her partner: such a fop—
the type who’s easy to offend.
I think this board could be a top!
I worry now —will this play stop
their side-suit running without end . . .?!
I need to get her king to drop.
My pard looks tense. I see him mop
his brow. (He has advice to lend . . . )
I think this board could be a top!
This play may work, or it could flop!
But on a squeeze I must depend.
I need to get her king to drop.
I think this board could be a top!
So who is Asa Plinch, and what’s a “plinchanelle”? Find out in the interview that follows.
“My ancestors are from a little known country called Jibber. My native tongue is Jibberish.” His pseudonym, Asa Plinch, he says, isn’t gibberish by any means, but instead a clever anagram of his given name SA Chaplin.
As for his BBO nickname, he simply says that he’s always felt an affinity for the character of Mr. Rogers.
“I watched my parents playing bridge when I was growing up (and when “two hearts” was a strong bid). My mother went to her grave clinging to this notion.”
Steve, or Asa, as he signs his poems, has always been a card game lover, and he’s loved BBO ever since first discovering it several years back.
Some of his best villanelles have been collected for “Plinchanelles”, a book released together with illustrator David Procter. The book is available on his website if you’d like to find out more.
According to Asa, he found his ideal illustrator through an internet search: “Mr. Procter is from London and now lives in Shanghai.” Asa says that the initial samples of Procter’s work were done in a “quirky, slightly dark” style that suited his poetry just fine.
He says that he chose the villanelle as the form of poetry for this book because he was looking for a type of poem that someone could enjoy the first time through. “Villanelles have an interesting rhyming pattern featuring repetition (which can help with readability.)”
When asked if he likes to travel, Asa says that if travel means going from the coffee pot with refill in hand straight to the front porch, then yes — it is a huge part of his life.
When he’s not playing bridge or writing poetry, Asa loves fly fishing and golf. (On golf, he says in rhyme, “I love the game more, when I don’t keep score!”)
As for bridge, he notes down his thoughts on this special poem for BBO entitled “Well, I declare!” – available here as an exclusive villanelle not in the book.
The poem’s title is a clever play on the Southern exclamation of astonishment or horror (“Well, I declare!”), somewhat equivalent to an exclamation of “Well, I never!” that you might hear around other states.
Why this title? “I live in the South, but I’m actually a Northerner.” he says, asking whether I know the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee in their parts.
“A Yankee is a person who comes down from the north. But a Damn Yankee is a person who comes down from the north… and stays!”
Well, I declare!