Villanelle Nr.20 — Age Divergence

We are ageing in different ways      
and there are signs of a future time      
when lights will dim in a strange maze      
     
Barring sudden death, this phase      
splits loved rhythms from known rhymes      
as ageing takes on different ways      
     
It’s hard to tell, predicting days      
how long until a foreign bell will chime,      
signalling lights dimmed in a strange maze      
     
A theatre production plays      
where actors dare not speak — they mime      
the act of ageing in different ways      
     
Yet constancy of spirit stays      
oddly watching the feared decline      
where lights dim to a strange maze      
     
As clarity blurs to a fogged haze      
new stories gift assumptions ... all is fine …      
they feed ageing in different ways      
spreading keen light in a strange maze.