Simple Song Blues Villanelle

This tongue I use, these things I do will prob’ly come to grief

All I have to hold onto is a simple song at last

The world rolls over—the shadow knows—it’s sunset in a flash

I’m trying not to be the guy who always has a beef

Time is passing:   I got older:   things have happened fast

Every time I drive my car    I think about a crash

I’d like to be a giant ray and wing the coral reef

All I try to hold onto is a simple song at last

Don’t we go a’gladly jobbing tryin’a get some cash?

Today I’ll take one off, sip the dew, and sift the breeze

I wish the time could last. It won’t last

All these TV talking Teds can give a man a rash

I squint my ears and listen like I must be going deef

Time has passed me—I think older—night comes slowly fast

You see the worry on your face, then think about your stash

The hours cast and reel you in: the worm between your teeth

All you have to hold onto is a simple song at last

Drowse along the riverside    and dream into the grass

Let the baby blue jays jitterbug from branch to leaf

They think all this will last. It might last

Whip those sweet potatoes, baby, quick into a mash

Only thing can fill me up is just this late belief—

Time is passing, I grow older, things are happening fast

All you get to hold onto is a simple song at last