"Time is only a stalactite" [villanelle]

It will take a lifetime to get it right
it will need a kalpa to round the bend
although time is only a stalactite

dangling from the cave of night
gleaming   more foe than friend?
it will take a lifetime to get it right

the stakes grow grand   the purse is slight
I purse my lips   as you condescend
allowing time is only a stalactite

Within my sky   will you fly your kite?
into your ear   will my poem wend?
it will take a lifetime to get it right

The pleistocene is long gone from sight
the kerosine may be near its end
although time is only a stalactite

I'll take the low road   you hug the height
we'll meet at seashore   our ways unkenned
it will take a lifetime to get it right
although time is only a stalactite



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kalpa (Sanskrit): a vast cycle of time; an eon in cosmic history

my first line is borrowed from the last line of Dilruba Ahmed's poem "Mother" (a case of flattery-thievery, one might allow)