In Crushing Blows

Hope comes in crushing blows

And smiles that never last.

Life likes to prove it so

With love that never lasts.

People say they will

And make promises 

They won't even try to keep,

And we'll just let them go.

They're human --

What else do you expect?

If I could put a band aid on every broken hope--
But no, we haven't time or space

To travel down that road.

It's just enough to know

That hope hurts

Much like despair.

Sometimes I wonder what's the point

Of one and not the other.

Hope is something
I cannot bear.

It bursts at every seam

Like sorrow

And cannot be pinned down,

Contained with perfect words.

What is one 

Without the other?

Sorrow and hope. 

For every light burned out

And every dream pulled down,

One holds the other's hand.

We mourn as much 

For hope as for the thing that dies,

And all our sorrows double.

Hope comes in crushing blows

And laughter on the summits,

Somewhere just out of reach.

Hope walks hand in hand 

With love that never lasts

And promises left out to dry

And aching battles repeated

Till something else gives up and dies,

Unable to capture hope

Within these flaw-filled hands.

Hope postponed creates despair,

But hope fulfilled

Pulls the band aids off my heart

And multiplies my joy. 

+++

Again, not the post I was planning for this week, but life happened, and I'm trying to give myself breathing room when things don't work out and time doesn't behave.

Do any of you write poetry/prose? I'd love to see it if you're up for sharing!