CARPE DIEM! (villanelle)

(For Dylan Thomas)

Burn the night, seize the day,
This illumination must be found,
Before the light has faded away.

A god who shapes his own clay,
Born in the moment, soon the funeral mound,
Burn the night, seize the day.

Speak not quietly what you say,
Howl out loud as the wolf or hound,
Before the light has faded away.

Burst into rainbow amidst the gray,
Explode like a spring too tightly wound,
Burn the night, seize the day.

Soaring the heavens, immortal today,
Fly high and fast lest you crash to ground,
Before the light has faded away.

Only one life so follow your dreams come what may,
Let the world feel the mark of your sound,
Burn the night, seize the day!
Before the light has faded away.

November 1992