Poem ~ Hope...

A friend gave me a book of poems called "The World Will Follow Joy" by Alice Walker.

Here is one of the poems that I liked:

Hope to Sin Only in the Service of Waking Up

Hope

never to believe

it is your duty

or right

to harm

another

simply because

you mistakenly believe

they are not you.

Hope

to understand

suffering

as the hard assignment

even in school

yo wished

to avoid. But

could not.

Hope

to be imperfect

in all the ways

that keep you

growing.

Hope

never to see

another

not even a blade of grass

that is beyond your joy.

Hope

not to be a snob

the very day

Love

shows up

in love's

work clothes

Hope to see

your own skin

in the wood

grains

of your house.

Hope

to talk

to trees

& at least

tell them everything

you've always

thought.

Hope

at the end 

to enter 

the Unknown

knowing

yourself. Forgetting

yourself

also.

Hope to be consumed

to disappear

into your own

Love.

Hope to know

where you are

~Paradise~

if nobody else

does.

Hope 

that every failure

is an arrow

pointing toward

 enlightenment.

Hope to sin

only

in the service

of waking up.