I have refined a poem I wrote a couple of years ago. This is a villanelle, with its own rules for construction. This is an excellent brain exercise for someone like me, a novice poet.

Echoes of Three

Superstition suggests death comes in threes
As homage to the Holy Trinity
If it should happen, will you fall to your knees?

Death by old age is a grove of oak trees,
A shaded resting place for those who pass with ease
Superstition suggests death comes in threes

Death from long illness is a cool autumn breeze,
Mercy that softens those stricken with sadness
If it should happen, will you fall to your knees?

Sudden death is an unexpected spring freeze,
No time to prepare for the sharp ache it brings
Superstition suggests death comes in threes

Self-chosen death drifts on unseen seas,
Tides that pull in silent mysteries
If it should happen, will you fall to your knees?

How you will die, there are no guarantees
When it is your turn, will two others follow too?
Superstition suggests death comes in threes
If it should happen, will you fall to your knees?