This is a villanelle I wrote in 2006 for a poetry class I was taking at the time.

Five Hindrances

Of all life’s obstacles, as a fence stand five.
Constrained by self, dreams choked from within.
Grab hold, scramble over! Go forth alive.

Tethered to your toys and your big-screen TV
Need more, need bigger! Mind diseased by this pattern.
Of all life’s obstacles, as a fence stand five.

Singing, cruising, in the left lane BRAKE! Lowlife!
You scream at the driver unseen, rage at his innocent mom.
Grab hold, scramble over! Go forth alive.

You think, Why now? room blurs Too tired to strive
There’s tomorrow, or the next. No need to push on.
Of all life’s obstacles, as a fence stand five.

Helping Junior with math, while monkey mind leaps– Buy chives
Buick needs oil Who is that girl Call the dentist Did I leave the stove on–
Grab hold, scramble over! Go forth alive.

As clocks tick forward, so does your life–
Frozen by doubt– like a rock dying from erosion.
Of all life’s obstacles, as a fence stand five.
Grab hold, scramble over! Go forth alive.