Hope Sonnet
If I could write a poem today with hope
I’d fit in all the trees and birds and bears—
all animals, the skies and seas and air,
republicans, the middles, and the woke
would have their places too, and right beside
them all are you and I and puffer fish
and coral reefs, the nudibranch and nudist.
Ebbing, high, or slack: it takes all tides
to plump up where the moon is. Here’s the thing:
We’re screwed. We’re doomed. We’re toast. We’ve effing ruined it.
Nobody’s coming. Revelations shit.
The planet’s better off without our sting.
The best that I can do in terms of hope
is that the human race will soon be smoke.
—–
[Prompt: Write a poem about hope]
Nancy — so many well-wrought lines in this poem. It sings and stings! I can’t believe you managed this on *hour 24*!!
Nice piece – very impactful. And the form is a perfect match for the rhythm and the ideas; a nice marriage.
‘Ebbing, high, or slack: it takes all tides’ is a fantastic line.
Amazing poem, Nancy! Fabulous sound sense and word play with the sonnet form. I especially love:
Ebbing, high, or slack: it takes all tides
to plump up where the moon is.
AND “The planet’s better off without our sting.”
Brava!
Love this! It really encapsulates the feeling we all have about this world’s hope. Well done.
Feel free to peruse my work too.