Hope for America

It’s Poetry Friday and make sure you check out Jama’s delicious offerings at Jama’s Alphabet Soup, here. Thank you so much, Jama, for hosting.

Today, while working on an INKTOBER prompt, I encountered the word “wisp.” (Notice I haven’t gotten too far down my list!)

I had already written a short poem using the word FISH, which I’ll share:

HORS D'OEUVRE PARTY

Salmon paté
on plates painted with fish—
to the eye was so fetching 
some guests ate the dish. 

I like writing short and hopefully humorous poems, but when I came to the word WISP, I came up with something of a different tone. Today, I felt quite sad hearing the point of view of someone interviewed on NPR who had no hope. He’s not planning to vote. I understand, as best I can, why some, including many African Americans like the discouraged interviewee, might feel that way. But I hope he can change his mind.

I have several friends and family members who are painfully hopeful that things will improve. Painfully, because hope. though necessary, can make a person vulnerable. So those thoughts inspired a Golden Shovel poem.

Here’s a link that describes the Golden Shovel form. The last words in each line read vertically comprise are a quote from another poem. I needed a quote to use and also wanted poems with the word wisp for my Inktober prompt. I discovered poet Florence Maude. You can read her poem, LITTLE WISP OF HOPE, here.

In a previous post here, I mentioned British playwright Simon Stephens. He said that the only mature way to deal with tragedy is through optimism. That requires hope. So I wrote this thinking of friends and family who are on the edge of their seats, maintaining hope, this election. 

TO MY FRIEND
A Golden Shovel Poem from a line in a poem by poet Florence Maude
“Little wisp of hope, I wish you would stay.”  



It seems that some, like you and me, other’s too, don’t feel in little


amounts; no mere wisp


of love for us passionate ones. No small sense of


injustice do we feel today about America. So, hope,


must always be in our hearts as well. I


can’t imagine, can you, love with no hope? Or a wish


for something that can never, ever be? No, you  


and me, we must imagine a better world and what it would


be like to have dreams like miracles that stay. 

I hope everyone has a good weekend. Nine days till Halloween! Thank you Jama, again for hosting.

16 thoughts on “Hope for America”

  1. Such a humorous fish poem and such a poignant poem of hope. Thank you for sharing both.

  2. Janice,
    I love a good humorous poem and you delivered it well. Thank you for the “Little Wisp of Hope” poem that I never read before. The last lines of your Golden Shovel poem hold such a beautiful hope.

  5. I do love that fish poem, Janice, very fun, & the poignancy of your ‘wisp’ poem echoes my feelings, too, wishing everyone would have ‘dreams that stay’.

  7. Thanks for both these poems — good food for the soul. The fish poem made me laugh (caught me by surprise), and the “wisp” poem has a “wistful” sentiment that sums things up perfectly. It was sad to hear of the interviewee who had lost hope and was not planning to vote. I suspect (fearfully) that he’s not alone. Wish there was a way of convincing him otherwise.

  10. Oh salmon pate and a delicious plate…..ha ha, crunch crunch. The Golden Shovel for wisp gets the feeling across for sure. Hope is so necessary. Hope and action and change. Thanks, Janice. A grey day but wasn’t yesterday glorious? I saw a sign that showed 80 degrees on it! Now time to hunker down in so many ways.

    1. Hi Janet! I wanted to congratulate you on your delightful poem in Hop To It! That’s wonderful. I am enjoying fall. Aren’t the trees so colorful this year! Thanks for stopping by.

  12. I think we all need more of your fun, funny little poems. Nine days until this election brings us some hope, I hope!
    I loved these lines in your poem. For me, this is the heart….no small thing.
    “No small sense of
    injustice do we feel today about America. So, hope,
    must always be ”
    Thanks for the great post. Have a wonderful weekend. I hope it’s nice outside for you.

  13. Your fish poem made me giggle, and as for the other, I, too, am “painfully hopeful.” I haven’t lost hope, I voted with hope at the end of my stylus, and I’m sure I’ll be sick with hope on election night. But I won’t stop hoping.

  15. Thanks for your full and comforting post Janice–Your wisp poem has more hope in it than Maude’s– hers has much melancholy, and yours is coaxing out all the hope it can. Love your HORS D’OEUVRE PARTY, delightfully delicious!

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