Musings on Hope
by Claire Scott

Cynicism is winning ladies and gentlemen
odds are on Sixth Extinction
favored ten to one
over Bright Morning
but we cheer for Morning
as we drive SUVs and gobble steak
vote no on affordable housing
and take twenty-minute showers

Perhaps we should go back and back
to where we first left Hope behind
the moment our boyfriend furled his fist
the second the doctor said I’m so sorry
we might find Hope soaked and shivering
by the side of a six-lane highway
or perhaps sealed in the bottom of a jar
after all the evil spirits had eloped

Don’t open it some people warn
Hope is disappointment in disguise
leading to craving and suffering
splitting time into today and tomorrow
when the only real moment is now
others believe there is room
for a Hope that includes all beings
like a prayer from the center of the earth

Why not settle Hope on the green cushion by the fire
you know, the one your grandmother gave you
when you graduated from Wilson High
embroidered with The World is Yours
feed her ambrosia and play
wordless tunes on a lyre
until she is ready to lift again
wearing a cape of white feathers



 

Return to: