The Almost Never-Ending Villanelle
asking God, Isn't it time that I finally get out?
by Dustin Brookshire & Beth Gylys
A contoured Villanelle using “How to Do Nothing” by Melanie Weldon-Soiset
I knew, (but didn’t) that it was time to get out.
I'd ask myself, tomorrow or today?
My head and heart each walking a different route.
How many times did I unpack my suitcase to flout
myself? Shoes back toe to toe with yours, I’d say,
in a whisper, Is now the time to get out?
One foot in, one out, a hanging chad, I’d pout
& putz around the house thinking about a way
forward, a diversion, a different route
for my life. I didn't stay because I'm devout,
though, believe me, I’ve sunk to my knees to pray
asking God, Isn't it time that I finally get out?,
dug my nail into my back to draw blood. Throughout
our relationship you've treated me like clay:
something to mold, a stone along the route.
When I slammed the door, I had no doubt
we were done, over, a corpse oozing decay.
Sometimes I hate myself for not getting out,
sticking so stubbornly to that dead-end route.
Dustin Brookshire is the recipient of the 2024 Jon Tribble Editors Fellowship awarded by Poetry at the Sea. His chapbooks include Repeat As Needed (Harbor Editions, 2025), Never Picked First For Playtime (Harbor Editions, 2023), and two additional collections. He’s the editor of When I Was Straight: A Tribute to Maureen Seaton (Harbor Editions, 2024) and the co-editor of Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville Publishing, 2023). More at dustinbrookshire.com.
Award-winning author and the co-founder/Principal Investigator of Beyond Bars, a Mellon sponsored literary journal for incarcerated writers and artists, Beth Gylys (she/her) is the author of five books of poetry—the last two (The Conversation Turns to Wide Mouth Jars—co-written with Cathy Carlisi and Jennifer Wheelock—and Body Braille) were both named Books All Georgians Should Read. Her work has recently appeared in West Branch, The James Dickey Review, and on the Best American Poetry Blog. More at linktree.com/bethgylys.
