To the Brave Hearts

A poem addressing a nation fighting for democracy

This poem is part of the NaPoWriMo 2025 challenge to write a poem a day in April. This is the prompt for April 2.

Anne Carson is a Canadian poet and essayist known for her contemporary translations of Sappho and other ancient Greek writers. For example, consider this version of Sappho’s Fragment 58, to which Carson has added a modern song-title, enhancing the strange, time-defying quality of the translation. And just as many songs do, the poem directly addresses a person or group – in this case, the Muses. Taking Carson’s translation as an example, we challenge you to write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word, an odd/unusual simile, a statement of “fact,” and something that seems out of place in time (like a Sonny & Cher song in a poem about a Greek myth).

Oh, resilient souls,  
you who rise like flames  
in the cold winds of oppression,  
your courage unfolds,  
banners waving in the dawn—
bold yet fragile—
I call upon you from the depths of this tumult,  
where echoes of dreams long buried  
dance like shadows in the alleys of despair.  

Amidst the rubble of yesterday,  
I chant your names,  
not in worship, but in a rallying cry;
for I carry a spirit,  
pulsing like a vintage record player,  
its needle scratching against the silence,  
the anthem of a hopeful tomorrow—  
Imagine All the People—
reverberating through the walls of history.  

Here lies a truth:  
the sun will rise,  
even over broken dreams,  
yet, still, you stand in the crossfire,  
where time has paused at the hour of your struggle,  
and the air is thick with the scent of resolve,  
like the pages of a manifesto,  
etched in the ink of sacrifice.  

Oh, brave hearts,  
in this land of shadows and light,  
I conjure a word—hopeforge,
a place where dreams are hammered into reality,  
its sparks illuminating the night,
your destinies penned with the ink of resilience;
and you wait for the dawn to break,  
wrapped in the fabric of your shared humanity,  
to sing your stories into existence.

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