Sonnet The Vallances

Sonnet The Vallances




for Judy, Meagan, Holly, Mitchell all the Vallances

Here's Richard Vallance, Judy Harris Vallance,
Meagan Holly and Mitchell, nieces and nephew,
Bill Vallance, Donna too and a fine chance 
plenty more abound, and you know it's true.

Our family crest bespeaks of Normandie
where we lived our lives in lavish wealth
where we were crowned as ducal royalty
and never had to hide from court in stealth.

The King of France was our next of kin
and Notre Dame our angelic home,
where the chartreuse Seine quelled the city's din
silenced by our cathedral's holy dome.

And though you wonder why we're Scots by blood
the fleur-de-lys is our indigo bud.

Richard Vallance

October 14 2019

This is my family on my mother's side, as my full name is Richard Vallance Janke. We are in fact descended from the ducal family, De Valence, in Normandy and were related to the King of France in the thirteenth century.

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summer haiku d’été – fleurs-de-lys white = fleurs-de-lys blanche

summer haiku d’été – fleurs-de-lys white = fleurs-de-lys blanche

fleurs-de-lys white
in a garden green –
sight unseen or seen? 



fleurs-de-lys blanches
dans un jardin vert –
les vois-tu ou non ?

Richard Vallance

summer haiku d’été – my fair fleur-de-lys = toi, ma fleur-de-lys

summer haiku d’été – my fair fleur-de-lys = toi, ma fleur-de-lys

my fair fleur-de-lys
nestled in my garden –
my wee kitty 



toi, ma fleur-de-lys
nichée dans mon jardin –
toi, ma petite chatte 

Richard Vallance

I have just changed the name of my kitty from Petunia to Fleur-de-Lys, because the flower is so lovely, and the name so sonorous.

Je viens de changer le nom de ma chatte de Petunia à Fleur-de-Lys, parce que la fleur est si belle, et le nom si sonore.