Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Not enough (to hope) [Day 657]


I’m sorry, but it’s not enough 
to hope, to sink down in despair 
and watch the falling rain. 
It’s not enough to talk 
about the changes we want now,
and expect someone, somehow
to make them for us. Enough
is a slippery slope, a one-lane road 
from light-drenched peaks to forests, 
dark and cool, treacherously banked 
around snaking curves. Enough 
is watchful, mindful, careful, thankful 
for what shines. It’s willing to work 
for what makes life worth living, 
to fight lazy ambivalence and 
battle the cruel folly of ignorance. 
No, I’m sorry, but hope will never 
be enough. A freedom like ours 
commands us to embrace the words 
inscribed on parchment, bronze, 
and stone—with generous hearts, 
we live; we die, alone.

(c) 2018, by Hannah Six

Image: Patrick Gillespie/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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