Hope
What a tether.
Sometimes I wonder why
I allow myself to tether my heart to others
Why I string it to them
And tie it around them so tightly
-
Hold me up - I plead
Hold me above the waves
-
Somehow that tether,
The thing I put hope and love and desperation into,
Curls around my neck much more comfortably.
A noose, it says.
A noose.
-
Can you strangle yourself on hope?
I never thought before I could
Never thought it was possible
To bring myself to that level of floating
To allow myself to dance upon the air
And then to choke on it
-
But my throat grows tight
And my breathing grows shallow
Beats slow
Thumping only in my ears
What a tether,
Hope.
About the Creator
Emily McGuff
Author of Crystalline (self-published on Amazon)
Lover of lyrics and poetry.
Obsessed with sci-fi and fantasy.
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Comments (2)
This piece really makes you think about hope. You talk about it like it's a physical thing that can either lift you up or hold you down. I've had times when I pinned a lot of hope on something, and it felt like that's all I could focus on. Did you ever have a moment where hope turned on you like that? It's a wild feeling, going from floating on it to feeling choked by it. It's interesting how you describe hope as a tether that can become a noose. That's a powerful metaphor. I wonder if there's a way to keep hope from getting so out of control. Maybe we need to find a balance, not let it consume us but also not give up on it completely. What do you think?
Great imagery!