Response Villanelle to Both Sides of a Smile by Dave and James Blake
We keep sheltering the flame
even bold can’t hold the cold must fold
It’s an ending just the same
So much passion we’ve had to tame
Truths untold, withhold, controlled, too old
We keep sheltering the flame
It is not for fortune or for fame
it’s our souls that are holed in gold
It’s an ending just the same
Made it our aim not to cast blame
but feeling cajoled and extolled
We keep sheltering the flame
Leaving shame out of the frame
Muting the drumroll in the fishbowl
It’s an ending just the same
Inching ever closer to the endgame
Cannot uphold the rickety scaffold
We keep sheltering the flame
It’s an ending just the same.