tidings
a non-conforming villanelle
To feel it all, we must rise and fall
Dusk to dusk. Dawn to Dawn
We must be present for it all
Shoulders back and head held tall
With sycophants or a bully's scorn
To feel it all, we must rise and fall
Turn with the tides, a bright bobbing ball
on the crest of a wave, sailing into the storm
We must be present for it all
Shivers in the dark beneath starlight scrawl
Trembling in sunlight as a new day is born
To feel it all, we must rise and fall
When blue skies starch to chalky pall
Or rainbows bleed to muddy form
We must be present for it all
Face up to the fight or drop down to crawl
Wrapped in cold shoals of night or fireside warm
To feel it all, we must rise and fall
Up and down, revolution and stall
Through siren-seas of normalcy porn
To feel it all, we must rise and fall
We must be present for it all
About the Creator
Caroline Jane
CJ lost the plot a long time ago. Now, she writes to explore where all paths lead, collecting crumbs of perspective as her pen travels. One day, she may have enough for a cake, which will, no doubt, be fruity.
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Comments (12)
To feel it all we must love this poem!
Loved your non-conforming Villanelle poem!!!❤️❤️💕
Exceptional rhythmic execution, Caroline. It significantly strengthens the piece's impact
"Shivers in the dark beneath starlight scrawl"- this particular line is beautiful Caroline, and I always find myself admiring your way with words when I read your poems! Feels like a subtle call to arms, or a warning against the way the world is headed perhaps.
Brilliantly done Caroline - I love the use of rhythm here!
Oh wow, this felt so empowering. Loved your Villanelle!
This was stunning - the way you wrote those lines made it feel like waves on the ocean.
I love a good villanelle! Such weighty lines that built impact each time they were repeated! Marvelous work, Caroline!
Hauntingly rhythmic and deeply resonant. This villanelle captures the raw, cyclical beauty of being alive—no escape, only immersion. Stunning work
Nicely penned, my friend. At first, I was ready to comment on the unique rhyme scheme until I realized it was a villanelle, haha. Regardless, the words here are a powerful sentiment.
Yours is an important theme: to be conscious is to experience everything, beautiful or ugly, trivial or titanic. We're obliged to commit to that, and that is not easy.
We always have to be there and on our guard, and stand up for what is write, excellent words