Hope is:

Last weekend we took part in an exhibition along with other artists from Hertfordshire. The theme was Hope and the artwork was displayed in a gorgeous chapel in Harpenden. On the Saturday there were workshops and in the evening there were performances. I shared some poems, including the one below which I wrote for the event. It was such a great day, so inspiring and encouraging to be around hard-working, talented artists. And another reminder of how happy it makes me to perform my poems :-)

Hope is

Hope is:
The smell before the smell of rain coming
One hundred poems before this one
The silence of the morning creeping through an open window
Before the day crowds in

Hope is:
Gritted teeth and binoculars
Checking your inbox at 1am
A pinky promise in the playground - moons ago
Newborn skin


Hope is:
The chair beside the coma patient
Worn down rosaries
And fishing wire
Just about invisible but able to trip you up
A whole lot stronger than you thought

Hope is:
 0.01 % rounded up to maybe
Clenched fists
The faintest heart flutter
Whispering NOT DEAD YET

Hope
Grumbles and growls
Desite the worlds efforts to silence it (lest it be ridiculed)
It makes a habit of making itself known
Because it’s stubborn
The last guest to leave a party
Clinging to the walls like cigarette fumes of a previous tenant
A stench to some, a dangerous drug, delicious….

Hope is
The why for beginning, again
Believing, there’s a reason for all this
That the grey and the grind are not for nothing
That love lasts longer than a kiss
That our eyes only tell a fraction of the story
That magic hides in every corner
That our prayers will chase back the clouds
And the sun will come streaming in
One day - anyways.