just another ghost town,
now the streets breathe faintly,
shadows crouch in doorways,
sidewalks swept but crumbled,
their cracks filled with awakening.
Eager footsteps break the hush.
are rekindling, drifting like
fragrant woodsmoke,
threading the fissures
of old brick walls,
each hope a stitch,
mending blight and silence.
an audacious optimism—
ringing like cathedral bells at dawn.
new vows are uttered,
signs call out: Welcome. Grow. Belong.
bloom once again,
repainted in colors so vivid
that you question the cynics.
a glowing dance, bending, reshaping,
reflecting not just memory
but pride and possibility.
The entire view is reframed
until eyes see the vision,
and minds can once again wonder
and even begin to believe again.
splashing unwritten stories,
Setting the splintered bones of this place.
Just as despair had taken root,
the ghosts leaned in close to whisper…
Hope is the better inheritance.
I read your poem and felt it like the end of a dystopian story or the beginning of a utopian story. In both versions, hope comes to save the world. Only hope is capable of turning the world into a luminous womb, a good land, like the small hut that serves to shelter us when it rains. There are fierce days, like the ones we live, relentless, in which we must take hope and carry it, like someone carries a lamp, and illuminate the darkest places. A nice Saturday, my friend. Hugs
I've been thinking a lot about the book The Fourth Turning, how extremely dark the world seems right now, and how so many towns and cities in America are in various stages of decay/decline. Then I thought about how easily it could all be turned around with just one spark, a simple change in attitude. How we maintain our physical surroundings is much more than our financial standings, it's a reflection of our inner psychological states. Things like pride, hope, and mutual respect don't cost us anything but seem to be in such short supply these days. These are the things that it takes to make a real community and heal it from the inside out. Thank you Nancy! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
There is a temptation to read this symbolically, but I read it literally. I can see the faded and even dying towns of the rust belt in NY.
I remember my father had an office on Liberty Street, in Newburgh. And we went to the movies on Broadway, in the '50s. Then Newburgh became notorious for being a city that had died, essentially. I was just looking at videos (prompted by your poem). Too sad to link to them, and I wouldn't want to insult the people who live there.
It would be nice if hope returned to Newburgh.
It's sad what's happened to cities and small towns across America. Our politicians, on both sides, have played a huge part in it. The loss of manufacturing jobs decades ago really left them struggling but the pandemic was the death-blow. We used to drive down to Arizona from Minnesota for our winter getaway and some of the towns we drove through between here and there were barely hanging on. There were bright spots though and I loved to see that—little businesses that were trying their best to defy the odds. I sense a real renaissance coming but we have to find our way through a few more dark years before we arrive to that. I think individual communities will have to get to the point where they're fed up and decide it's up to them to turn things around on their own. I saw this happen in areas of the city I grew up in, Columbus OH, and it was an amazing sight. German Village was one huge success story. In the 1950's the entire area was slated for the bulldozers but a handful of people in the community stepped up and started a huge privately funded renovation project. It took decades to finish but now it's the jewel of the city. You can actually feel the cohesiveness and pride when you spend time there. Hope is, indeed, the better inheritance.
Beautiful crafted piece. So emotional 😊
Thank you for this
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
A fine poem of recovery from a state of being downtrodden. I think this peom passes a message about our ability to recover from defeats only if we keep hope alive. No unpleasant situation in life is permanent. After the night comes the dawn.
Thanks! Yes, and no one is coming to save us. We must save ourselves.
The image of shadows fading into light captures the transition from hopelessness to optimism.
Thanks, that's what I was trying to portray!
Hope is definitely a powerful thing and hard to control or oppress. We need more of it when things feel to bleak in the world!
Hope really can create a chain reaction. That's how rebirths and renaissances have always been sparked, born from very dark and hopeless eras.
Beautiful poem, I loved the image...best regards @ericvancewalton
Thank you!
#hive #posh