InSpiritry

 

With all that the tragedy we see in the world, hope seems to be in short supply these days, yet it is essential if we are to believe we can change the world. 

Where do you find hope?

Who is a source of hopefulness for you?

How can we instill hope in others?

I believe words used well can do a lot to keep hope alive: stories, poems, essays, conversations, sacred texts. Each week or so, I will be producing InSpiritry Podcasts for the Greater Good. I hope you will find hope there.

For now, believing in the power of poetry to inspire, here is a  poem I wrote years ago that has become a mainstay of my inspirational presentations and performances.

Just imagine what this kind of health policy could do for the world!

Public Health Proposal                                       

What if it was in the water?

 Hope, I mean–

added like fluoride for our health! 

It would be poured into baby bottles,

mixed with formula,

so that at an early age

it would become a part of us,

stored in our cells for later. 

In schools, it would flow

from the water fountains–

leading teachers to trust students

to never give up! 

We would bathe in it,

sprinkle it on our lawns,

cook our food with it. 

Why, hopewater would be served

with every meal like salt and pepper! 

In hospitals and nursing homes,

doctors would hang IV bags of it

mixed with medicine whose results would be astounding! 

 After a while, the lakes and oceans would be full of it. 

It would rise and fall as rain. 

Every afternoon, the sky would fill with puffs of it,

and folks would look up and say, 

                             “There’s hope!” 

Let me know how hope has been a blessing for you!                             

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 12:34 pm and is filed under PODCASTS, InSpiration, Social Issues, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.