Distance – A Villanelle

The distance between may never be crossed
As the span that parts the living and dead
It cannot be held, and cannot be lost

With the crawl of a slowly numbing frost
I lie in the snow and dream you instead
The distance between may never be crossed

And the great love that left my heart embossed
Is now just a fever that grinds my head
It cannot be held, and cannot be lost

While I might sail the Lethe with some small cost
Memory is hope, amnesia dread
The distance between may never be crossed

This ache ebbs and flows in tidal accost
Like beautiful music suddenly fled
It cannot be held, and cannot be lost

In time I fear your absence will exhaust
To exit the world on my final bed
The distance between may never be crossed
It cannot be held, and cannot be lost



The villanelle is a 10 syllable metre, with a strict rhyming pattern and reuse of lines 1 and 3 throughout. It’s a bit like a dominatrix in that it’s very easy for all the strictness to rapidly drain the pleasure!