I have hope.
Hope for better days,
for health and good fortune for the people I love,
for peace and respect for all.
Is hope only a human feeling, a human belief?
Or do the ducks along the shore have hope?
Hope for plentiful food, a good mate,
clear skies, and slow enemies?
And the trees? Do they have hope?
Hope that the fires will spark elsewhere,
that the boy with the carving knife will pass them by,
that rain clouds will feed them?
Does the anxious puppy have hope?
Hope that its people will soon return,
that they will proffer attention?
If not, can we feel hope on behalf of other entities?
Hope enough for all the world?
Pass it forward as a gift?
Ah, but is hope really a gift?
Hope is often enveloped with anxiety.
Perhaps we give hope too much power,
power over our hearts and minds.
When Pandora opened the box,
was hope a gift as we all thought?
Or just another of the ills?
