For me
Hope is found in the tearful and tender confession of “I don’t know”.
I don’t know how to be a friend,
how to make the world
not end.
I don’t know how to stay above sadness
Or how to make love.
But I believe that
hope is found in bowing to our deepest “yes”,
whether silent in resolve,
a shy admission,
or thrown about joyously like confetti.
Hope is not an assumption
Hope is not pretense
Or proud
Hope begins with not knowing where you are going
Where there might be no maps.
Or the memories are lost, maybe harder to recover
Maybe deciding it is worth it to go
And to make the first step anyway.
The Generous Pine 