{living with fire: a tutorial}

One last villanelle to kick off a new week:

“Two people in a burning house must not stop to argue.” – a proverb of Ghana

But, how do you live in a house on fire?
How do you breathe in the heart of the blaze?
Chutzpah, persistence and nerve this requires.

A body learns not to flinch at high wires
(Though heartbeats may skip as that body sways)
But, how do you live in a house on fire?

A rabbit adjusts to life in a briar
The thorns become turns and twists of the maze;
Chutzpah, persistence and nerve this requires.

The swamp spatters those who brave its quagmire
One risks drowning death to drain its malaise,
But… How? Do you live in a house on fire?

The heat also roars, deafened, you perspire,
But carry on with your bucket upraised.
Chutzpah, persistence and nerve this requires…

Keep breathing this smoke, you’ll surely expire –
Why stay, with eyes streaming, in choking haze?
And how do you live? In a house on fire,
Chutzpah, persistence and nerve are required.