#36

#36
John Roedel, Upon Departure

hope is often
so much quieter
than fear

hope is the whisper
between screams

hope is the muted hum
of the world moving under your feet

hope is the sleepy song
being sung to us in the midst
of the fury of exploding bombs

hope is the nearly inaudible
sound of your tears drying
on the rose of your cheek

hope is the hushed wind passing
through a tall Wyoming pine

hope is the noise of you
softly exhaling while
looking for God in the mirror

- hope is the babbling river
- hope is the snoring baby
- hope is the thumping heartbeat

hope is a lightly
beeping hospital monitor

hope is the   sound
of butterfly wings
moving in the spring

hope is the noise ice
makes as it melts on a lake

hope is the gentle scratching of
a flower as it claws its way
out of the earth to sunshine

hope is never loud
   hope is never fussy
hope is never announced
- in fact, you might miss hope's 
arrival if you're not listening for it

hope is more piano
then it is a saxophone

- hope is humble
- hope is stealthy
- hope doesn't have to wear a name tag

hope is so often so silent

but that what
makes hope so
powerful

because it can 
surprise us at a moment's notice

hope is always present
it's the beat between music notes

it's the lips smack before the kiss
    it's a deep breath before the eulogy

hope is the quiet voice of God
that is endlessly begging us to
not surrender to teh crawling shadows

and the voice is always
saying the same thing: 

"Hold on, my love, hold on, my love." 

if you give it a moment of silence
you will find that hope is a real
chatterbox

it won't stop talking to you
once you let it get started

hope is everywhere
   even in places where
you won't expect to find it

- it's in your blood
- it's in your wrinkles
- it's in your grief

hope is relentless
amid the noise of
this clanging world

just listen

I swear, 
my love, 

if you just listen
to the noiseless hope
that surrounds you

I swear

you'll never give up again