So I was thinking, what the hell,
it could be hard but I’ll have fun;
I might just write a villanelle.

At first the words spilled out pell-mell.
They reeled and cantered, deftly spun.
So I am thinking--what the hell?

when tides turn.  It’s not going well.
Lines tangle as I come undone.
I might not write a villanelle.

I have to leave this for a spell.
The drudge-work has me on the run.
So I am thinking, what the hell;

but wait!  The form begins to gel.
The knots unravel, one by one.
I might yet write a villanelle.

(Would it be showing off to tell
I snuck in at least one good pun?)
So I am thinking, what the hell,
here’s my not-quite-right villanelle!

Has a nice Seussian flavor, Griffin.
You got me pun hunting...

(Would it be showing off to tell
in line ? there is one good pun!)

-Tom

Are you asking which line it's in or suggesting a rewrite?

I don't know, G. It depends what it is, and I don't know what it is. I wish I did, looked or it for a minute, but nothing jumped out. If it is a really good pun, but truly hard to spot, you might want to give line number in the poem. If it is not, you might want to rewrite. If I'm just being blind, then you might want to just ignore all this!

If it jumps out too much, then it's a bad pun.  If it's subtle, it's a good pun in my book, deftly spun.

Oh, and I much admire your 'Special poetry-writing Clothes" poem, Tom.  I understand Milner's mild objection to writing about writing, or writing about poems, but this was really just an exercise that turned out to be a lot of fun for me, so what the hell.

milner's right about the writing about writing stuff.  it's very hard to successfully pull it off and make it interesting.  this succeeds strictly as an exercise.  to stretch your literary muscles.  we don't pay to watch the team practise.
john

Glad to see the word "succeeds" in your comment, John, I'll take what I can get.  As for  the 'nobody pays' portion, fair enough.  While I don't expect this piece to get elevated to editor's picks, I submitted it because this depicts a poet following the arc of creativity through its stages to a somewhat successful conclusion.  Hopefully that's enough to keep it from the reject board.  Thanks for looking in.

this would certainly never get rejected, but it came across (to me, at least) that your goal was more the form than the content.  and i've never been a big fan of looking at poems as puzzles to be pieced together.  that kinda strips the life from them.
keep on writing.  it's the work that matters.
best...
john