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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