Poem: Practical Hope

I wish things were
the way it used to be.
Before all the gloom and doom.


Stories and songs
little life's joys
poetry and art.


Talk of places
we want to go
and dreams to share


Spring on the horizon
but weather the storms
into summer's fury.


Leaves fall dying
winters are cold
but warm by the hearth.


Before the shadows encroach
before the sun disappears
before mist blinds our eyes


Is the present worth living
if the future promises nothing
but heartache and pain?


I would like to think
that hope springs eternal
to buoy flagging spirits.


For if we give in
to complete utter despair
then we have already lost.