Pulsing through my mind is nothing but fear
Running from a dream that stalks the edges of my sleep
I’m screaming and screaming where no one can hear
From the darkness, faces are pausing to leer
I fight towards consciousness, but I’m in too deep
Pulsing through my mind is nothing but fear
In this careening night, there’s no one to steer
I’m slipping on a cliff that is slick and too steep
I’m screaming and screaming where no one can hear
Wild flame of thought burning swift to sear
No counting can be done as I stare at blazing sheep
Pulsing through my mind is nothing but fear
Reality is thin; like oxygen it’s sheer
Bolting my eyes tightly, I will not steal a peep
I’m screaming and screaming where no one can hear
Fast breath, slow breath, gasping, acrid hot and clear
Daring into nothing, I quickly, blindly leap
Pulsing through my mind is nothing but fear
I’m screaming and screaming where no one can hear
What is a villanelle?
“The highly structured villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two repeating
rhymes and two refrains. The form is made up of five tercets followed by a
quatrain. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated
alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final
stanza, the refrain serves as the poem’s two concluding lines.”
For more, go to: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5796