I'm working on a Villanelle today and bumped into these two very different poems with the same title. Thought I'd share them.

The Revenant
F.S.

I heard fine pebbles rake my pane,
And rose from sleep to stare below
Where no one stood, tonight, again,

No shadowed shape in wind and rain
Where once you flung reminders, so
I heard fine pebbles rake my pane-

And yet my eyes went searchng, fain
To see some huddle stir and go
Where no one stood, tonight, again.

And suddenly I thought the grain
Of stone stood up and seemed to grow;
I heard fine pebbles rake my pane,

And lion-gold, your heavy mane
Of hair one moment caught the glow
Where no one stood, tonight, again,

So fell a fancy filled my brain
I turned and whispered hoarsely, "No!"
I heard fine pebbles rake my pane
Where no one stood, tonight, again.



The Revenant
- Billy Collins

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you--not one bit.

When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.

I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and--greatest of insults--shake hands without a hand.

I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.

You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.

While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place

except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner--

that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and the others in prose.

Mary

Here's another one:

Revenant
by Rita Dove



Palomino, horse of shadows.
Pale of the gyrfalcon
streaking free,
a reckoning--

the dark climbing out a crack in the earth.

Black veils starched for Easter.
The black hood of the condemned,
reeking with slobber.
The no color behind the eyelid
as the ax drops.

Gauze bandages over the wounds of State.

The canvas is primed, the morning
bitten off but too much to chew.
No angels here:
The last one slipped the room
while your head was turned,

I don't think I've ever heard the word "revenant" before today and oddly enough, haven't even looked it up yet. One Look Dictionary to the rescue!

Quick definitions (revenant)

▸ noun: someone who has returned from the dead
▸ noun: a person who returns after a lengthy absence
▸ adjective: of or relating to or typical of a revenant ("Revenant shrieks and groans")
▸ adjective: coming back ("A revenant ghost")

An appropriate topic for the season!

Les