Midway Upon the Journey of My Life
a villanelle
Although my life is only halfway through,
And age, with stealing steps, has shown its claws,
There’s still a lot of dying left to do.
Friends and family, those I look up to,
So many lost to universal laws,
Although my life is only halfway through.
Since life’s spent waiting, wasting in the queue
And no one can escape death’s dropping jaws
There’s still a lot of dying left to do.
Each year I outlive someone else I knew,
While more get dipped in blue and wrapped in gauze
Although my life is only halfway through.
If Time’s a bloody nightmare coming true,
And growing old’s a bloodbath without pause
There’s still a lot of dying left to do.
Another year, another dropping shoe,
Reminds me that I need to live because,
Although my life is only halfway through,
There’s still a lot of dying left to do.
by Frank Mundo
Editor’s Note: The villanelle form can easily twist itself into nonsense, but this poem uses the repeated lines and theme to emphasize the narrator’s ruminations with flair.
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