Soul Search (Villanelle) Poem by Yen Cress

Inside myself I tried to look
To find the source of all my pain,
And all the earth around me shook.

I tried to find whence flowed the brook
That bubbled hurt and left a stain:
Inside myself I tried to look.

All friends and lovers I forsook
That solitude might lead to gain,
And all the earth around me shook.

Such precious, cautious care I took
But every effort was in vain,
And all the earth around me shook.

My motives everyone mistook-
My searching went against the grain.
Inside myself I tried to look,
And all the earth around me shook.