Villanelle after Wittgenstein

Philosophical Investigations 525

After he had said this, he asked her,

His judge, 'Do I understand this sentence?'

He left her as he did the day before:

In the bathroom window, out the back door,

Saying, 'Almost nothing is not romance.'

After he had said this, he left her

To construe the double negative. Sure

He could repeat what she'd let him do once,

He left her. As he had done the day before

He did what he would do the day after.

'A fight is always also a dance,'

He said, and having said it, he left her

To say, 'Love is death in miniature.

It takes two to play the game of absence.'

She left him as she did the day before.

'Every day is a day for departure.

A failure always means a second chance.'

After he had made his final gesture

He left her as he did the day before.