Tomorrow Glimmers
A poem (villanelle) that reflects on the courage needed to embrace new possibilities despite the weight of previous heartaches.
This poem is part of the NaPoWriMo 2025 challenge to write a poem a day in April. This is the prompt for April 11.
Take a look at Kyle Dargan’s “Diaspora: A Narcolepsy Hymn.” This poem is a loose villanelle that uses song lyrics as its repeating lines (loose because it doesn’t rhyme). Your challenge is, like Dargan, to write a poem that incorporates song lyrics – ideally, incorporating them as opposing phrases or refrains. A few lyrics that might work, if you need inspiration:
“Is this the real life? / Is this just fantasy?”
“I read the news today, oh boy…”
“The world is a vampire…”
“At first I was afraid, I was petrified”
“There is a house in New Orleans”
“You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain”
“I went down down down and the flames went higher.”
“The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”
“Nothing ain’t nothing, but it’s free.”
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades, Yet shadows linger where hopes often hide, With courage ignited, a fire that invades. Dreams painted in colors, vibrant charades, But the weight of the past can’t be pushed aside, The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. With each step I take, the path often fades, As doubts creep in like an uninvited tide, With courage ignited, a fire that invades. Yet still, I march forward, unafraid of parades, Embracing the journey, a joy I can’t chide, The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. For every heartache, a lesson cascades, Strength forged in the fire, where dreams coincide, With courage ignited, a fire that invades. So here in the moment, the past serenades, While visions of promise in my spirit reside, The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades, With courage ignited, a fire that invades.
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Your poetry speaks for so many of us. Thank you.