A Villanelle

By Robert J. Nutt

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

The games have changed; the rules are all remade.

When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

They twist the past to fit their modern ways.

What once was firm is now a blurred charade.

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

A thousand voices shape the roles we play.

Yet rules are made, then twisted an...

Through storms, I’ll hold my ground; steadfast I’ll be.

No quarrel shall I have with man or beast.

The smallest seed of faith grows deep in me.

I shall not move in doubt; my soul stays free.

Though tempests rage, my anchor steadies me.

No greater foe than doubt shall be released.

Through storms, I’ll hold my ground; steadfast I’ll be.

As roots take hold, they break through stone to be.

Through d...

“I dreamed about a lion.”

I was sitting on the top bunk, my feet dangling from the side. The prison had been on lockdown for four days now. Tony, my cellie, was sitting at the small table bolted to the wall. He was flipping through an old magazine. Four days is a long time to be locked in a 6-by-8-foot cell.

“A lion? Are you crazy, man?” Tony jumped up, animated as always, rumbling on about how ...

All my hopes come by the night I dream.

To awake to fruity aromas and running hugs.

And the curtains are looking lively right?

The house is alive with love.

To awake to fruity aromas and running hugs

No dust or dim lit lights-only fullness of peace

And the curtains are looking lively right?

The ambiance of divine music healing plants.

No dust or dim lit lights-only fullness of peace.

The elepha...