look at the time

One of the poetry collections I got from my wonderful Room of One's Own poetry subscription last year was Kiki Petrosino's Witch Wife (2017), which I actually posted the title poem from a couple of years ago. There are poems in the collection that aren't villanelles, but also I fucking love villanelles. Villanelles!

We'll have to hurry if we want to get started.
It's high time to consider beginning at all.
Time, at least, to think about starting

to start. After all, we've only just gotten up
& running, but now? We're almost too late.
We'll have to hurry. If we want to get started

we'll have to start now. We'll have to work
round the clock, round the clock, round the—
Well. Let's think about starting, at least. Though

it's tougher than ever. We can't even begin
to explain what it's like. To start with, we know
we should want to hurry. At least, we're starting

to want to. That's almost too tough to say
at the start. Still, we're sure we'll begin any moment.
It's time to get started we think. Let's consider

getting up & running. By then, it'll just sort of start
& we'll have begun. Zut alors! It's a plan & a party!
It's just—we should hurry. If we want to get started
we better begin. But it's tough. Just look at the time.

—Kiki Petrosino, "Ought" from Witch Wife, 2017. Huge mood, am I right?