Twenty One

I stand by her grave, where praise be, i hope to be saved, her eyes like thunder, wine dark on the sea, they make me shudder, in the blue Nave, stripped like the trees, nothing's left to trade, between here and surrender, the old amber need, doesn't stay to linger, my voice starts to break, it's late for the season, geese honk on their way, her face is the wonder, happy laughing clean, that i tore asunder, it's quiet by this place, fifty years of need, for my allotted space, she makes for me.

Twenty

Me Ma stamps the tar, it's not good news, second husband runs the car, a trip to the park, peel oranges in a barn, love never hungers, won't let him cross the arc, he's bemused, right from the off, she's a stone heart, my son says he knew, it's only the start, Da's not gone far, lipstick, a shirt he uses, Ma says with his tart, she smokes a Lucky Star, smelling the perfume, he's falling apart, I still hear him cough, splutter like a fool, hope is a distant mark, from this latent brew.

Nineteen

Is it love of rain, or a burning pyre, that you're against, you sit in the gloom, listening to the criers, no one jumps the queque, seeing problems look away, they pester you for hire, it's never easy or brave, to do what you do, your eyes seek the tide, they were never blue, an offering to the saved, like an ice cold fish wire, is this what you gave, whispering at someone's due, here's my coat to lie in, my song is true, not defined by trains, nor tongues of a liar, the miracle I crave, my life on fire.

Eighteen

Gamble everything away, don't care what you do, won't kid this kiddar's rage, at winter's iron thaw, from you there comes no tune, just a sallow maw, watch ships in the bay, work is just a ruse, salt always in your cake, everyone's your whore, sad song's come on cue, what a cache they hoard, smoke ciggies in the rain, every trick in use, this life is such a game, curdled love tied with cord, no one really hates you, why make them roar, gnaw at some cause betrayed, conceal bitter news, take it to your grave, drunk on stolen food.

Seventeen

They'll let you know, what people up here feel, almost in their bones, that jilted smile's a strain, hurting in the trees, they see it anyway, take your time right now, those night's without a key, the river always flows, why seek the rain, peer in mountain streams, don't have to catch a train, nothing to bestow, with other crazy schemes, life's no picture show, been a long time away, to live within a dream, now face each coming day, you don't have to borrow, we see how you've been, stay to warm your toes, nothing's how it seems.

Sixteen

My song is good mojo, it maybe flawed, but i know the score, love on a lilac sea, whoever takes the tour, waves goodbye to dreams, life is a bag of bones, a lender of furious pause, it won't let you doze, my tune is your creed, come back for more, this is our scene, dance in my zone, like we used to before, our time hasn't gone, knowledge is real, your clothes sweep the floor, how good it feels, I'll smooth your tones, succour the poor, temper your groans, eye every door.

Fifteen

You ask what's new, never one to help the poor, i arrive on cue, you never did say please, divined by any call, or my sense of ease, always back of your queue, sitting in this gloom, I'll bust the curfew, bad guys on this street, no fool for your cause, when you hear the screams, it pulls your life askew, hacking out your chores, sweating with the Blues, i know where you've been, with all your glorious mores, whose turn now to bleed, you never were my glue, drinking at some lonely door, your head full of tunes, tilting at the bar.

Fourteen

You come to me in bits, say water's in your blood, somehow nothing fits, try to make the claim, more to life than this, take love beside the freeway, she carries yellow lists, plain and understood, chained before the kids, wants another say, maybe you need a plug, rather than raise Cain, simply do what she insists, suffer in time go nuts, prepare for another blitz, act like someone crazy, youe need to make a fuss, why suffer every phase, in this house of whispers, an ocean door never shuts, you don't need a chorus, to stop chopping wood.

Thirteen

You always try to calculate, foundation walls safe to climb, beyond the spikes of jail, your lips can't fake, when they leave us nothing, stand before the magistrate, inhabit somewhere beat, maybe with a communion air, have a go at taking care, it's not easy being free, knowing how to keep, a wooden space to perorate, terrible supplies of energy, vodka tonics citrus lines, who needs you anyway, take a train, winter in warm climes, find an Ocean to lie in, somewhere else to bathe, you can't ever discreetly, inquire about the places, that secrete our wine.

Twelve

Never one to search for gain, every task to you is rent, don't feel the rain, or get sore, putting up our new fence. fixing the door, no matter what it takes, you grant your presence, us ungrateful reprobates, fools sing for applause, take drink like the rest, you know the score, do not remonstrate, to bring out our best, oh what a fool you make, two and two makes four, you'll scatter our defences, always ask for more, see how little we hesitate, our investment spent, in night's cool probate, you remain our friend?

Eleven

What hurts deep inside, something's new in her face, your eyes full of rain, what you need to know, no longer comes your way, sealed in a one way note, new to a sweetheart's lie, see her heart fade, not easy to turn aside, a million ways to show, you fight against the waste, with nowhere else to go, desolate in your crying, soaked on a street called main, a barometer for your time, explain to another what blows, you once jumped rail, whisky face aglow, no time to step aside, is this really the place, to ask the reasons why, you feel ashamed ?

Ten

Each tweet makes me a liar, will anyone see, the gaps between my hair, sometimes just a little move, makes heaven a place to share, even if I can't get love, terrible faces hard chairs, will they ever let me dream, no one keels me there, get dressed feel the rug, what about my teeth, grace comes from up above, as if I don't care, scrubbed up like easyclean, I sail through the air, call me Harry he buys a Bud, it might rescue everything, rise each night in flood, it's only fair, when evening turns green, get what you like or dare, it's not me who feels.

Nine

When donkeys start to bray, you dance and say, never mind the time, sit by the fire,. don't take a train, come here and wait, it's a lonely path alone, not having a sou to spend, lost like Homer from his home, listening to stones, i only read in bed, rather than get laid, this horizon so bright, a sail on the lee, this way there's no stain, so far we're right, who needs a reason, blankets weigh heavy at night, it'll be our secret, won't enquire about pain, a long silent right, brings us our day. ,

Eight

Who will break your news, struggling to escape, last winter's blues, no horizon's bright, is your mark a stain, you're always right, it makes life a curfew, no dancing on waves, or fearing what to do, never mind the time, hear a donkey bray, you sit by a fire, before sunrise bears fruit, your tears seep away, no one can reach you, every wondered why, enquires about pain, make a long silent night, your moans are in tune, with a fortune at bay, hearing rain on the roof, you won't shout hurray.

Seven

Take the love you show, drown it on the tide, live with what you know, drained by winter's news, before you sail on by, look at me you knew, caught up in a cyclone, going to be a bride, I say please don't go, what makes it true, your heart's made of stone, it beats the Delta blues, breaking on my bones, who will bring more wine, nothing can atone, all we have we lose, that fellow by your side, is he part of you, you never did do slow, to catch another's smile, why fake you're alone, screaming in the night.

Six

They'll all be fine, fix a drink alone, stronger than wine, used to take strong tea, humour lachrymose, jokes my repartee, now i'm to be kind, walk up the brow, try to settle unwind, rain starts to ease, I'll carry the stones, what was once certainty, have spoken my mind, never one to atone, leave it a while, I need to believe, what used to be so, when they all leave, where is the time, now they've left home, the stuff that was mine, now they've all gone?

Five

Look up down the road, try to look kind, a smile in your soul, the stars show the way, cold in your time, you're back to stay, no need for a comb, you'll walk the miles, what you don't own, won't make any claims, your face alive, know how to be brave, there is no window, your face doesn't shine, always another show, never mind future days, don't burn out the fire, even being away, so there you go, you're home in a while, before the cock crows, no longer a child.

Four

Wonders if she's right, to head for the sea, if she'll be happy, she dances and parades, stands before the enemy, her soul works this way, the shouting and fighting, feeds her unease, time breeds necessity, her eyes near the fire, cold in the season, good reasons to leave, what's down the line, before she flees, worrying about freedom, lilac as the night, Spring's done with heating, she needs to heal, bags weigh heavy at night, it's fun to believe, she'll never sit tight, or wade through treacle.

Three

Will you arrive the same, beneath the ruins, each time we separate, in this tired game, now i feel fine, i dream of the sea, sail away this time, what does it take, for you to remain, is there no avenues, i can't explain, so close by you, no need to hide, my thoughts in train, I howl at the moon, are you coming home, i know there's a flame, not some bell of doom, you can't fasten fame, either live or walk away, can we ever say, what makes a tune?

Two

The diagnosis half true, she smells the Limes, on a tree lined avenue, acts like she knows, the ties that bind, blows hard on her bones, hope holds you aloof, she knows that is right, except there's no clue, she won't be alone, in this cosy light, to break out the stones, but has to keep going, through cold evening night, when the kids phone in, she sits near the flue, it's not like a crime, for a fire to warm you, thinks she'll be fine, drink leads to ruin, it's just a strange time, to wonder if you're through?

One the number poems of 22 ines taken from page 25 of older villanelles

The sun rises uneven, cars fill up their lanes, it won't wait 'till evening, beyond the night is right, need you to say, there is a life outside, an awful rush of energy, coffee tastes the same, who needs reason, sail away on the line, it matters that you stay, not go off this time, with my dawn novena, I smile like a hurricane, my body swells a treat, it really is fine, in and out I pray, drink a little sweet wine, bars wave like wheat, it's a morning shame, not just my swollen feet, that you'll rub again.

Zena

Go on then be free, you're only skin and bone, who am I to relieve, or demand what to say, sing the song I own, along this brief highway, a taste bittersweet, penetrates my soul, floats it on the breeze, who are you to state, the only pain is home, when you're in the fray, you smell of the sea, no human need to groan, against a rock of eternity, sing as you pray, console with those you own, no house makes you pay, call on time to leave, don't really want to know, is it you who believes, I walk away on stones?

Xanthia

Don't turn away silent, we can go home again, maybe in a better time, do what we can alone, need not be in shame, rivers rise on their own, laugh in warmer climes, no one's to blame, part of me is dying, beyond that war zone, the shifting sands of fame, a place we know, return us on the tide, all you need to say, it will be all right, when promises get broken, spirits dance aflame, they call to the stones, love bows down at night, howls at ancient places, waits for lamps to shine, will it be the same?