Where does hope begin or end?
Hope is not a one-way street, I know.
Hope folds back upon itself and those
who travel its streets come and go.
Hope gets caught up in the dark fold
and holds its breath until the street unfolds
where freedom lights and warms the soul
and breath can find its rhythm again.
Wins and losses racing down these streets
means little on this stretch where war has taken hold.
the streets of Harkiv, Cherniv, Chernobyl,
Kyiv, Lviv, and Mariupol and the many towns
and villages along the way show us hope
passed this way on its way to war and back again.
Bodies lying twisted on Ukrainian streets
executed and abandoned show hope passed through
on its way to our own streets, to our own end.
Hope folds back again and again and again
until our streets meet Ukrainian streets,
util our humanity meets in the streets everywhere,
until we discover all streets meet end-to-end.
Our hopes fold and unfold together on the road
to war and peace, to evil or good, to hatred or love.
Where does hope begin or end?
With each of us.
