The One Who Sleeps Beside Me—a villanelle #NationalPoetryMonth

A live wire in the morning, he crashes by mid-day?

This villanelle* is for Jason, my in-house artist, who works tirelessly each day but still manages to wake up whistling and ready to entertain.  Inspired by Allison Joseph's prompt: "Write a poem about someone or something your speaker loves so much or feels so strongly about he or she is willing to get up early for it."

The One Who Sleeps Beside Me


On mornings when the sun can't find me
through the clouds amidst the grey
I find the one who sleeps beside me

watch him breathe and let him be
my lover at the break of day
on mornings when the sun can't find me.

Under covers, he lays dreaming
soon he'll leave, to my dismay.
I spoon the one who sleeps beside me—

wrap my arms around him, wondering
why he still decides to stay
on mornings when the sun can't find me

when my mood feels paralyzing
he wakes and prods me into play.
I find the one who sleeps beside me

brighter than that solar orb, glowing
warmth, he radiates and lights my way
on mornings when the sun can't find me
I thank the one who sleeps beside me.


*So, what's a villanelle? It's a fairly structured 19-line poem, with two repeating lines and two refrains. Villanelles are five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by a closing quatrain (four-line stanza). The first and third lines of the starting tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the remaining tercets and in the final quatrain, serve as the last two lines.  Here's the rhyme form, if you're curious: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2. The capitals indicate the refrains. The two rhymes are either A/a or b. 

Make sense?

No?

Then check out my poem with the rhyme form next to it. (Note: I took liberties.) 


A1  On mornings when the sun can't find me      
   b  through the clouds amidst the grey
A2  I find the one who sleeps beside me

a    watch him breathe and let him be
b    my lover at the break of day
A1  on mornings when the sun can't find me.

a     Under covers, he lays dreaming
b     soon he'll leave, to my dismay.
A2  I spoon the one who sleeps beside me—

a     wrap my arms around him, wondering
b     why he still decides to stay
A1  on mornings when the sun can't find me

a     when my mood feels paralyzing
b     he wakes and prods me into play.
A2  I find the one who sleeps beside me

a     brighter than that solar orb, glowing
b     warmth, he radiates and lights my way
A1  on mornings when the sun can't find me
A2  I thank the one who sleeps beside me.


Try it. You'll like it! And post it here in the comments for me to read and enjoy. Thanks!