there is not always hope
And that is depressing,
but also, inspiring.
hope in God, hope in the universe
in humanity, in family, in friends
hope in authority, hope in power
in karma, in school
hope in yourself.
so many places hope can be lost.
But it is our decision to make.

There is not one person, not one thing,
there is no army nor one disaster that could take your hope away from you.
Except yourself.
You choose hope.
Hope is yours.
and hallelujah for that
hallelujah for hoping in ourselves
hallelujah to the bright eyed seven year old boy
giving his happy meal to a homeless man
hallelujah to the stiletto wearing women
inviting friends to stay the night
hallelujah to Martin Luther King
hallelujah to the sun, rising each morning
and hallelujah to your mother
for not caring that your best friend likes the way you look in your swimsuit

tonight when I got home
I pulled my hair into a ponytail.
I wished I could have kept pulling,
up and up until every little thing
and every last hair was off my shoulders.
-
I was running down my street tonight.
a meager glance down and I saw
another shadow chasing mine.
breathlessly,
excitedly I braked
in time to realize both shadows belonged to me.
-
tonight I mapped the distance
from Salt Lake to Phoenix;
11 hours and 18 minutes.
should I stop through Vegas
or the Grand Canyon?
-
I fell asleep alone tonight
in a bed too spacious for my body.
through murky midnight eyes,
I thought I caught you turning over.
what I didn't realize
is that you are not sleeping here
not tonight
and not the night before.