Hope in the Dark

By Cliff Lake

 

Hope in the Dark

 

It is not enough to speak of hope,

Impalpable and distant often…

Hope is initiated by action,

Be it small,

Be it unglamorous.

Hope is transfused through devotion,

Through adherence to a just cause,

Through empathy and a kind smile.

One must apply that hope:

One must be that hope.

Ruthless resolve is called for,

And a dedication to decency.

Hope may cut through bleak times,

Hope may suffer through the gloom,

Hope is the knowledge that the dark

Always gives way to day,

That the night is punctuated by the stars,

And that the moon returns to her fullness always,

And the patient one will see her again.

Hope is not blind obedience to fantasy,

But is the flower lit by a single ray of truth,

A fact piercing the fog of desperation,

A handhold at the precipice unlooked for,

Yet present all the while,

One only need widen the gaze,

To see that the clouds end at the horizon,

And know that all storms pass in time.

Darkness is not to be feared –

Merely endured,

For light is ever-present,

One only need look up to find it.

Are these dark times?

There is no doubt of that.

Can they last?

Look to the past for an answer:

This world has suffered much,

Yet it remains.

Mankind has done bad and done worse,

Yet here we are.

There are smiles still to be found,

Yes, even in the midst of agony,

There are smiles still to be found,

And there we find hope.

Do something kind today…

Be someone’s hope.

 

Cliff Lake 5/26/2025

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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