How to make something happen, how
To meet what’s left for me head-on
It’s a long road travelled upon
So what dreams of the future now?
I ran so fast to get ahead
After all the rushing around
I’ve found my feet stuck to the ground
How to make something happen, how
Can I learn from my past mistakes
Blindly followed the loudest voices
Crossroads offer too many choices
So what dreams of the future now?
How to make something happen, how
To reconcile the debris of all that’s gone?
So what dreams of the future now?
A reflection on getting older and wondering what might be next. I’m reasonably happy with my life and feel a little lack of ambition. This could be the folly of comfort but I’m tired too.
Shared with dVerse Poetry Form: Villonnet and Poets and Storytellers United – dreams and also for a course at AllPoetry.com
17th Dec 2024 – Published at Edge of Humanity

Your villonet reflection on getting older resonates with me, Shaun. I’ve recently tried to make something happen by joining the Cancer Research UK fund raising and doing 100 skips a day with a skipping rope through October – at 68 I should have been careful, but I practised without the correct footwear and strained my back. I still want to do it, though.
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I’ve been slowly improving my physical health in my 50s but it’s a lot harder to maintain a good habit especially with some of the typical older person kind of injuries that can occur.
Waking up with a dodgy neck or aching shoulders is something that can’t be easily shrugged off or shaken out any more.
But as you said, I still want to do it too!
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The future shrinks with every day passing…
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I want to try to keep in mind that the future doesn’t just belong to me.
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This is simply excellent, Shaun! ❤
~David
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Thanks David. 🙏
I enjoyed trying this form and took some suggestions from the dVerse page and started backwards from the repeated lines then filling in the rest. It was a fun challenge.
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oh, I did that too! 😅
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I haven’t had chance to read through the entries yet but will try to soon!
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“the debris of all that’s gone” – to make peace with it is perhaps the hardest thing, still the older one gets, it all seems to get more liberating, in some strange way. Just got to keep plodding on with those aching necks and backs…
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I feel as though I have stuck myself in a little nostalgia block recently as I’ve been revisiting lots of writing from my past. I guess I’m trying to reconcile those with what may lie ahead in the future.
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Love the reflections as we grow older. I am finding things are more important to me, rather than approval from others. Thanks for joining and sharing the villonnet.
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I’ve always been a little bit contrary (and so it was no surprise to see that trait in my son when he was a teenager too!) so I was not particularly interested in approval of others who were outside ‘my tribe’.
Thanks for reading and providing an interesting form to attempt for this prompt. 🙏
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I think an ambition to enjoy life, just as it is, is worth striving for.
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I’m lucky enough to be enjoying my life most of the time these days. Part of that is striving for others by being a teacher.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Ibtoo resonate with you, as too have been asking these questions . Interestingly penned
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Thank you 🙏. As my mum used to say all the time ‘Just get on with it!’ 😃
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This is beautiful, Shaun. I like the repeating lines.
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Thank you. This one turned out well 👍
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