Read "What is a villanelle?" for an involved explanation of the villanelle.
Villanelles #15 & #16 are parts i and iii of "The Lotus Tree": allpoetry.com/
Villanelle #18 is part I of "The Phantom of Wheeler Camp": allpoetry.com/
- This is an involved explanation that defines the villanelle.
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every fiber bound to life
linking bone to skin be still -
Amid the ghostlike skeletons of oaks,
a lone song lifts from a channel brown with grass -
he's searchin all the ports an' all the bits of earth
dispersed like scattershot throughout the swell -
And yes the skies could shower flood or fire,
ending every gain, but now they're clear. -
You’ll never know what they will come to be,
The children of your heart who live without your love; -
steel bars seal the concrete cell
dim lighting casts a haze on everything -
Momentum slows for every skimming rock,
Too soon to sleep enfolded in the mere, -
My heart is moved by that which wastes away
And yearns in vain for that which cannot stay. -
Each passing nimbus rains a mist, morphing like some giant wraith,
And shadows cast below them briefly dim the verdant brooks; -
Where dreams and waking vision merge and blend
A shade has often offered encouragement discreet -
I have collapsed in prayer to an unknown force,
And pleaded to the stars in timbres hoarse. -
Motionless on the wave, immobile to wind or wake,
The broad leviathan sleeps in stolid stern disquiet, -
Lonesome pilgrim on the path, where does the journey end?
Firm you grasp a walking stick, and wander with the wind. -
Nearby firs rise tall and loom with enigmatic poise;
Bold madrones of vibrant hue succumb to near erasure; -
Shadows yield the slightest of sound, concealed by the foliage dense,
Granting but the hint of a glimpse, just flickers against the depths. -
Colors paused on peak and plain where passing all the while
Voiceless hopes were whispered on the rasping desert winds. -
Walk with me on this moonlit path, long throughout the night,
Winding among the brooks and streams, faintly sheened with light. -
Dancing, leaping cloud to cloud, held aloft by feathered lift,
Flying horses fill the night, sharing in the joy she found—- -
As if emerging from an ageless pang,
I woke to living there before her sight; -
How could you turn your heart from love so grand?
A love as hers you will not know again;
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