Hope, you shatter me –
why be lover only?
Casual acquaintance,
fair-weather friend,
petulant and winsome in turns,
colossal tease.
Creeping in on the heels of a foggy eve,
dazzling with your brilliance,
then stealing away
with the sun.
Will you not say “I Do!”
and throw in your lot
with mine,
for better or worse?
No.
You are a
false friend,
adulterer,
betrayer.
And yet,
oh,
oh my love,
how I want you…
Meanwhile, Melody Muses... 
eek! But hope can be fickle even though we like to say hope is always there.
It IS always here, but must be chosen daily – this was a bit of an emotional piece, for when we feel like it isn’t there…
Yes, on reflection, of course it is always there.
Sad… but don’t let hope die.
Never! Emotions can play with our reality, though, can’t they? This piece is for those days when we FEEL as though hope is gone.
Powerful words and imagery with shades of Hosea. I like the photo.
Shades of Hosea – I like that! Thanks Lyle. 🙂
Hmmm–I love the poem, but not the message (can I say that??).
Yes, you can. I know it is rather bleak compared to my regular stuff – but the darker emotions need to be expressed, too – and this is how it feels when your journey keeps getting too close to a cliff! 😦
Oh, I know–and I apologize if my response lacked grace. I’ve been fighting some depression–and holding onto hope with gnawed fingernails. I’ll probably have some shadowy posts intermingled with faith/joy/hope…
How well I know that feeling! This piece is written for exactly such a day – but it knows, too, that hope is not so flighty as portrayed. It bounces back, an ‘updraft of grace’…
Thank you for not taking offense, Melody–I was enjoying your poem, but wanting Hope to be the lover who stays. As you so often say, we “get” each other. There are days when I just slide by a post, maybe “like”–but don’t risk commenting; I’m glad that I did today, so we could “share some reality”. Such reality doesn’t contradict faith, or hope–but it’s like stepping into a large cold very muddy mud puddle. Am I right??
How apt! The battle has been won – but we are left behind, on guard and clean-up duty. The reality is that we are left with a lot of loose ends to tie up; no matter how secure the ending may be, we are not at the end just yet…
Yes–that’s the reality I avoid like exercise. I prefer poetry and fiction–Hallmark-type stories with clear, optimal resolution before I go to sleep. Makes me sound like a spiritual wimp, I suppose–but I’ve been battling for 60 yrs, I’m tired.
ME, too! 😦
I love this, especially as I read the comments and see your heart behind it. And the photo portrays the poem so well! Today I read . ..”But I will hope continually . . .” Ps. 71:14 🙂 Then this. Now I know why He wants me to hope continually. God bless you!
Hope lost is game over. But to admit to struggle is to be honestly human – and that, too, is part of the process of becoming holy. No wonder the Psalms speak of hope!
How odd. I was thinking about writing something about hope (partly inspired by another couple of blogs) and then yours suddenly appears on my reader. I like it very much, although I would disagree and say some hopes need to be left behind.
Interesting perspective – I think you’re right. It depends very much upon what our hope gets placed, not just the fact that it stick around long enough to do us some good. Thanks for that – you made me think…