Pure Feelings
An American-Innovative Villanelle in Memoriam
Phil Everly
January 19, 1939 – January 3, 2014
My feelings for thee are simple and pure
Thy voice did teach mine own to harmonize
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
Thy brother sang straight melody so sure
While thou gav’st harmony its angel guise
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
Through my teen years thy music was the cure
Thy sound did soothe—my heart did realize
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
My mad young crush and longing insecure
Kept me from forming normal youthful ties
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
The flesh-and-blood boys’ charms could not allure
Nor equal thy voice—the one I did prize
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
Radio sent sounds my ears held secure
TV did flash thine image to mine eyes
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
Mad ’sixties brought us both heartbreak for sure
Marriages, careers for us failed to rise
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
Still thou didst stay the gauge that did assure
A yardstick for male beauty I could prize
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
Thy beauty could not say thou wast mature
Nor tell that love did grow beneath its guise
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
Years have shown what fantasy does obscure
Taught me hard truths through many painful cries
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
A devil’s horns did wound made me procure
What was real and true beyond human lies
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
And still thy voice remained fast and secure
Days that harmony first claimed my young skies
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
I did meet love thy songs did reassure
They had guarded me through life’s stormy tides
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
My true love and I now weather the seas
And find the calm in blessèd union ties
My feelings for thee are simple and pure
Then God did bestow a gift to secure
A face-to-face meeting—O sacred prize!
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
And in that moment my heart knew for sure
A love no years or space could compromise
My feelings for thee were simple and pure
Thou didst sing thy way into my soul pure
Didst bring a light that only love supplies
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
For all blest ties gratitude I secure
For my Divine Belovèd sacred wise
My feelings for thee are simple and pure
For every gift in life I can secure
For love that time and death cannot revise
Thou didst sing a love song that would endure
My feelings for thee remain simple and pure
