Villanelle: The Nautilus

[crows]

From the first house, ghosts have set me free.
In one great gesture, I am brought to bear.
Do I sail by moon or more by sea?

Here, I search an echoed, ancient history
In mirror, tomb, and endless spiral stair,
Where from the second house I am set free.

Face of muse, or maid, or mother disagree
What task a resolution, what throne's heir:
Do I sail by moon or more by sea?

Here in fathoms, dirge, and jubilee
I've searched the face of life for every care
From the third house, ghosts have set me free.

A year for motion; another, memory.
Inertia guides me onward, and I dare:
To sail beneath the moon, beneath the sea.

Reforged by fire, volcanic gravity
Reborn by stony fountain, echoed prayer.
From the last house, ghosts have set me free
To sail or swim by moon, by frozen sea.