Let’s say you’re on your last thin string
of hope          your kids are hungry
you’ve lost
your minimum wage job with no benefits

your 2006 Chevy needs a new muffler
two rear tires an o-ring
for the oil
leak and your left wisdom tooth aches like hell

Your string of hope   frayed and a little wet
is in your pocket one early spring 
morning
as the sun rises on the first robin you see

Let’s say you smile       Let’s say you feel
the face of the world slowly turning toward you
so you
warm your hands on a cup of tea and begin to sing

– David James

Author’s Note: I wanted to write a poem of hope since I found myself writing mostly “end of time” poems as I got older. Hope is such a misunderstood emotion, capable of inspiring people to do miraculous acts in dire situations. We don’t really know why or how hope works, but we do know it can come from the most inconsequential conversation or from any mundane detail or vision, like seeing a bird on a fence in the morning sunlight.