can anyone tell me?

Nothing I can do in this world with my rights,
Wanting to be free and wanting to fly;
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

I’ve been tortured in my heart every night,
I go outside and yell until I cry;
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

Come, God, and shine on me with your bright light,
Thinking it would be better as time goes by;
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

Let me be free and let me find my new sight,
Leave me at my sight until I die;
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

I fight every day with all my might,
I won’t give up freedom, and still try;
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

Nothing I can do in this world with my rights.
Come to my heart, but don’t try to lie;
Guide my heart, God, with your almighty smite.
Can anyone tell me that I am going to be alright?

by Tae Cha and Greg Price

Written in Joslyn Wolfe’s English 11.

Assignment: Students were asked to identify the structure and organization of a villanelle. They then wrote a villanelle as a way to interpret and respond critically to aspects of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.