In my Deadlines for Writers group, the assignment for the month of April 2020 was to write a villanelle.  I was unfamiliar with this French poetry form. It is very structured, requiring a rigid rhyming pattern, but no rhythm, meter, or line-length requirement at all.  One rhyming couplet is repeated throughout the poem in a prescribed manner.  All the other lines use a different rhyming pattern.  I don't particularly like the resulting poem. My biggest challenge for this assignment was coming up with a meaningful and versatile rhyming couplet that was to be reused as a couplet and as individual lines. Then the other rhyme needed 11 words, so that had to be chosen carefully too. Here is the villanelle as I submitted it at deadline.

A New Chance

I’m not bound by the past; that’s who I used to be.

Opportunity glows in every sunrise.

Each day I can choose who is really me.

Though emotions, like roller coaster rides,

Drop me low before letting me rise,

I’m not bound by the past; that’s who I used to be.

The feelings of yesterday, the lows and the highs,

No longer define me. They’re lies.

Each day I can choose who is really me.

When ghosts of bad choices arise,

I grieve but press toward the prize.

I’m not bound by the past; that’s who I used to be.

My past has met its demise.

But living it has opened my eyes.

Each day I can choose who is really me.

I greet each fresh day, and revise;

And walk forward, with trust, newly wise.

I’m not bound by the past; that’s who I used to be.

Every day I can choose who is really me.

Inspiration

“When someone you love dies, you are given the gift of "second chances". Their eulogy is a reminder that the living can turn their lives around at any point. You’re not bound by the past; that is who you used to be. You’re reminded that your feelings are not who you are, but how you felt at that moment. Your bad choices defined you yesterday, but they are not who you are today. Your future doesn’t have to travel the same path with the same people. You can start over. You don’t have to apologize to people that won’t listen. You don’t have to justify your feelings or actions, during a difficult time in your life. You don’t have to put up with people that are insecure and want you to fail. All you have to do is walk forward with a positive outlook, and trust that God has a plan that is greater than the sorrow you left behind. The people of quality that were meant to be in your life won’t need you to explain the beauty of your heart. They already understand what being human is----a roller coaster ride of emotions during rainstorms and sunshine, sprinkled with moments when you can almost reach the stars.”
― Shannon L. Alder

You’re not bound by the past; that is who you used to be. Khalil Gibran