Hope is not

I figured I would share a poem I wrote awhile back, in light of MLK Jr. Day, the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and the inauguration of a president whose tagline was "hope." 

Hope is not 

Many starve while many are filled,

And many more gorge themselves meal after meal,

becoming worse off than the hungry:

unappreciative and proudly obese. 

Give me only my daily bread,

So I will neither go hungry nor forget who gives.

Lost are those who have no one to follow,

More lost still is he who gets fat at the hand of a deceiver.
The lost who search look for what they lack,

but those who sit swallowing lies think they chew on something. 

Guide me in the truth,
So I forget not who leads.

Hope is what makes us human,

What keeps us alive: 

a desire for something better,

and a drive to search for it. 

Many have tried to give up this addiction,
But instead have gained a craving for false hopes and dreams. 
Fill me with the hope that comes from knowing who gives, and who leads.

Although many are lost, hope is not.