Poems of Hope

contributions from The Editors and found located within the public domain

The Gift and the Giving
by Ruth Ann Smalley

Food is the foundation, the world essence 
pulsing through all beings.

Food is the lattice of life, connecting us all. 

An alchemy arising from the soil’s share,
seeds stirred by sun and air, rain and care.

At its most basic, food is sustenance, survival.
At its most beautiful, food is nurturance, love.

Sharing food is the primal act of kindness.
Food is the giving. Food is the gift.

The paper crane installation, imagined and brought to life by Diana Bangert-Drowns in the fall of 2021, at St. Vincent de Paul Church (900 Madison Ave, Albany), remains a visual reminder of what we can accomplish together. Diana passed from this life in September of ‘23, but her message of hope continues. 

Haiku
by Natalie Criscione

A thousand paper 
cranes to pause beneath and ask,
“What peace can I bring?”

Hope
by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
*in the public domain

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet never in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Hope
by Clara Ann Thompson (1869-1949)
*in the public domain

The saddest day will have an eve,
The darkest night, a morn;
Think not, when clouds are thick and dark,
Thy way is too forlorn.

For ev’ry cloud that e’er did rise,
To shade thy life’s bright way,
And ev’ry restless night of pain,
And ev’ry weary day,

Will bring thee gifts, thou’lt value more,
Because they cost so dear;
The soul that faints not in the storm,
Emerges bright and clear.

Everyone Sang
by Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)
*in the public domain.

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark green fields; on; on; and out of sight.

Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted,
And beauty came like the setting sun.
My heart was shaken with tears and horror
Drifted away … O but every one
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

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