Hope Floats

don't get your hopes up
like you did under the bleachers
and she did after you came out
when she hoped you'd call
but you didn't

don't get ahead of yourself
planning a second rendezvous
during the first blind date
and the last she ever had
because of you

it's probably impossible
to not get your hopes up
so go ahead and get them up
along the lines of hoping the big box
under the twinkling Christmas tree
is yours, not your brother's, for once
but don't go so far as to hope big
like maybe you'll win the lottery
without buying a ticket
because that's not hope
that's just impossible

it's also impossible
to please all of the people
all of the time
so quit doing that too
even though those people
so needing to being pleased
are hoping like hell
you'll keep trying to please them

i heard that hope floats
so i guess people in South Dakota
and other places located inland
can only hope while vacationing
in the south of france
or maybe swimming
in a neighbor's pool

that way, when hope floats by
they can grab it
and pray it isn't slippery
or made of molten lava
or has high voltage current
or is just a stupid hologram

i once floated on my back
surrounded by a whole ocean
and waited for hope to float by
there was a huge seaweed clump
half an orange flip flop
and something I thought was a jellyfish
but it was just my own long hair
brushing against my arm

i stayed that way for hours
i must have drifted off to sleep
as well as off course
and woke up when my head
struck a bobbing object
very, very far from shore

i hoped it wasn't a whale
or a piece of the Titanic
or a pirate's wooden leg
or another person floating

it wasn't any of those things
it was a buoy made of something solid
something heavy and hard
with a loud bell and a blinding light on top
and it was floating
but i couldn't climb up on it
because it was slippery
and i was afraid it had electrical current
needed for the light on top
and that i would be electrocuted
if i touched the metal parts

that was the day
i learned how to pray
and that good things come
to those who wait

 

 

Reviews

[roarke]

Lots of stuff floats LJW.... there's a fine line between hope and expectation. Although the expectation off a pirates leg would be something....

the last two stanza's here are quite sobering compared to the rest of the piece. The buoy: beacon, clarion call, savior.... hope wrapped in uncertainty. Then prayer and patience, lessons learned in the moment, going way beyond hope and expectations... revealing it's not so much the hope, but the "believing in" ... that's most effective.

floating for hours? must have been one heck of a sunburn...

Enjoy your depth and clever wry wit. You're one in a million.

[Octob3r Star]

nice :)

[Crowley]

Holy hell...how have I missed you all this time. That was almost like a standup routine...not so much a hilarious one but like one Whoopi Goldberg would do in the early years where she would take reality and turn it into something funny and true to life and it made you sit back and say "she knows". I loved the whole vibe and message....great writing.

[Miss Coral]

Very smooth, very real piece. You write like one talks, naturally and smoothly. Really enjoyed this piece. The rhythm was very good- generally I have problems finding it when people omit punctuation, but your style makes it quite clear.
Overall, really nice piece.

-Coral-

[Phibby Venable]

your work is always strong, sharp, and beautiful.

[Tim Jousma]

Pretty darn good. I liked how it broke down simply how foolish it is to try to please everyone all the time.