The Clock is Ticking

A Villanelle

by Cristina Nehring (May 2025)

–
\
–
My fearless child, go play in the bright
Corners of our wintering town.
Before we breathe twice it shall be night
–
The lives of your breed are rarely long
And your mother’s time will never exceed
Your own. My fearless child go play in the bright
–
Let us fete every ray of sun that we catch
Let us stay in that circle of light
Before we breathe twice it shall be night.
–
When the time comes, we’ll go into the shadows
Together: We’re an indivisible pair at the end as at advent.
My fearless child go play in the bright.
–
We hold dearest what we have a short while
A trial or triumph; it’s hard to distinguish
But before we breathe twice it shall be night.
–
We will trade time for beauty
In each chapter of our lives.
My fearless child go play in the bright.
Before we breathe twice it shall be night.
–

Table of Contents