dear hope

It seems to me that you are the one thing we should strive to hold onto forever. And no wonder, for you are the expectation of a longing that can be fulfilled.

We hold hope in our hearts to keep at bay the bleak existence that may be reality.

For the war torn nations,
For the crops that failed,
Because of the eviction notice,
The grim news from the doctor,
For the elephants and all the animals on earth,
Because of apathetic, greedy business practices that serve no good,
For governments to collectively, everyone of them, come to their senses,
For the politically imprisoned and tortured,
For the health of our planet.

We hold hope in so many ways, probably not realizing her quiet strength within us.

By a kind gesture or polite manners,
A donation to a soup kitchen or an animal shelter or a library or a disaster relief fund,
By being of good cheer,
When riding out a storm of depression because people count on you to be alive,
Recycling your ass off,
Stewardship of our trees and rivers and wildflowers and air and water,
Clotheslines people! Clotheslines. There is much hope here.
Love of everyday life. This includes dishes, laundry and cleaning up the cat vom,
Feeling the breeze and listening to the birds.

These are all hopeful practices.

And just because you can't see and hear the leaves of Hope, so melodic in the wind, doesn't mean that her roots aren't still strong and intact, ever present and ever hopeful.

I love you Hope.

p.s.

Miss Dickinson was, of course, spot on accurate.