“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are players.
They have their entries and exits” — Shakespeare.
Who we are is learned behavior.
Reinforced by repetition
Institutions’ sour savor
Us v. Them a favored flavor
Cooked by gluttons’ craved ambition
Who we are is learned behavior.
Taints our sense like toxic vapor
Fairy tales teach with precision
Institutions’ sour savor
Villains slain and who’s in favor
Rulers make the best decisions
Who we are is learned behavior.
Scales askew for misbehavior
Death or cage are poor’s perdition
Institutions’ sour savor
Kings walk free and stroke their sabers
As we yearn for manumission
Who we are is learned behavior.
Break the chains, intrepid sailors!
I decided to do another villanelle in response to the prompt. Reena, thank you for yet another evocative prompt.
Reena Saxena is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge. Reena says:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are players. They have their entries and exits” famously said Shakespeare.
Shakespeare got it all wrong. Life is what we choose, and everything else is just existence.
Tao Talk 
very profound, resonates deeply and the format helps!
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Thanks Kate
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Wow! Beautifully said Li
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Thank you, Sadje. We need to have courage to break out of those roles.
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Indeed.
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The refrain of ‘who we are is learned behavior’ adds to the depth and intensity. I came across some research on the subject, that ‘self’ is a constructed version of response received from the other world.
Is my assumption correct then, that whenever I feel misunderstood and think others cannot see the real me… the real me as I perceive it my sense of self?
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Good question!
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Reblogged this on Reena Saxena and commented:
Intrepid we go forth ….. a villanelle by Jade Li/Lisa
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The format worked beautifully to reinforce what is being said. It is deep and resonates. ❤️
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Thank you, Punam ❤
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You are welcome. 🙂
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I had to look up manumission, because I never heard that word before.
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I saw it in the word list at rhymezone (a very handy site for finding rhymers and other things for poetry) and it fit, so.
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The kings are running rampant… (k)
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A cry for freedom. I think we’re revisiting the sixties. This reminds me of the 60’s protest songs. Nice one, JadeLi.
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Thank you very much, Len.
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