This poem was previously published by South Florida Poetry Journal. It was also included in my debut poetry collection, Let Go of the Hands You Hold (Mercer University Press), as a QR Code so readers could put down the page and listen to me perform the poem from the stage.
Inspired by Gabriela Garcia Medina, it’s titled “If All My Dreams Came True.”
What Inspires You
In general, I’m inspired by nature and domestic landscapes. Certain music will always move me. For this poem, I was inspired by Gabriela Garcia Medina. According to her bio, she is a Cuban-American spoken word poet and filmmaker whose work blends humor, heart, and social impact. Her poetry explores themes of identity, immigration, womanhood, and social justice, always with a sharp comedic edge and deep emotional truth. A 2013 Poet Laureate Nominee, Gabriela has performed at over 1,000 colleges and universities across the United States. I was honored to meet Gabriela when she was a guest at the university where I taught. After her thrilling performance, she held a special workshop for the campus Spoken Word Club, for which I was the faculty advisor. In that workshop, she asked students to imagine what the world would be like if all their dreams came true. That prompt haunted me for weeks, until I finally sat down and wrote a spoken word poem of my own. The prompt can be used for any kind of poet/poetry, but I chose performance poetry in honor of Gabriela, my students, and the impact they both had on me and my writing.
Bio
Marissa Glover lives and writes in Florida, where she spends most of her time sweating. Her poetry books have been published by Mercer University Press: Let Go of the Hands You Hold (2021), Box Office Gospel (2023), and Some Intangible Mercy (forthcoming 2027).
Find the Spring 2026 Issue HERE
Previous NPM 2026 poets
| April 1 | Amy Forstadt |
| April 2 | Annette Sisson |
| April 3 | Beth Kanell |
| April 4 | Bonnie Proudfoot |
| April 5 | Charles Stringer |
| April 6 | D. Dina Friedman |
| April 7 | David Colodney |
| April 8 | Deanna Ludwin |
| April 9 | Eileen Pettycrew |
| April 10 | Felice Alexandra |
| April 11 | Grace Massey |
| April 12 | Hallie Fogarty |
| April 13 | Isabel Cristina Legarda |
| April 14 | Jon Yungkans |
| April 15 | Kim Welliver |
| April 16 | Laura Foley |
| April 17 | Laurie Kuntz |
| April 18 | Marissa Glover |