Hope (May This Guide You On Your Way)

Love yourself

Love your partner—even if they’re gone

Love your family

friends & neighbors—especially on holly days

.

And think well of strangers

even if they seem lost

especially if they are lost

.

For as much as the most stubborn among us will

try to deny and hide the truth

it cannot be disproven

nor proven—save by sacrifice or despair—that

.

Of all the faculties of the soul

which shackle us here

hope is the last to die

.

So search for it in their eyes while they look away

—those pessimistic fools—It isn’t pain they hide

but pain that hides hope

beneath impassivity

the sheerest of palls

twisted into chains

.

forgo rage

.

Let love release us

and love each other as we change

Let us laugh together—not in mockery—as life’s great jokes begin to dawn

.

For only dead things remain the same

—and mourn all death

even those tragic fools

never to be disillusioned by light of day

.

I tell you this

Laugh, cry, jest, forgive freely

apologize when need be

enjoy breathing slowly

even softly

and sometimes sing

.

Treat problems as puzzles and pleasures as pastimes

for our triumphs and tragedies are not judgements upon us

but moments in our stories

.

so play the part you love

and love your part in play

.

Most of all,

Love life

share your lessons in turn

while you learn from it what you may

.

But if you must,

.

.

.

let go of love…

.

and let hope guide you on your way

.

And may hope guide you on your way