Hope

Someone in my 2ofus4now support group had a question about hope, and I shared with her the following poem written by someone who survived GBM for eleven years (on old technology!). I couldn't resist sharing it here:

HOPE

Hope is hope, a feeling of trust,
Against all odds, we do what we must.
Hope is a confident expectation,
Not a guarantee of a realisation.

It thrives in the soul, beats in the heart,
But Oh what strength it does impart.
There is nothing false about this feeling,
It has no limit, it has no ceiling.

Hope inspires determination,
To reach a dream with anticipation.
No you cannot infuse it,
You cannot draw it into a vial and use it.

You cannot measure it by RADS,
or take its pulse when you're tired or sad.
But drink it is with great desire,
it's medicinal power can raise you higher.
Hope is truly free insurance,
it indemnifies with utmost assurance.

Hope rises above deep despair,
It lifts the hearts of those who care.
It isnt a panacea or cure for every ill,
It is a source of optimism, a place to find your will.

When stress and fear are set in motion,
Hope proves true as a stronger emotion.
No you dare not deny it,
You must not defy it.

Eternal they say it springs,
Of promises it softly sings.
It cannot be false, any more than false sorrow,
It's basic belief is 'There's always tomorrow'.

If hope is false, then surely I guess,
There must be false hopelessness.
What would it mean to have false hopelessness?
Perhaps that indeed it was true hopefullness.
So let's turn it around, or inside out,
Because hope is something we can't live without.

-- Rebecca Libutti, from That's Unacceptable (2001)