BETWEEN FOUR JUNCTIONS

He does not look to face me, as my fingers grace across his neck. His arm reaches out and, in his ear, I whisper silent death.

MARK VELICHKO Destroy It with Hope

It was born with the first human and will die when humans go. Invisible to everyone, yet to all a great foe. Pouncing on prey, both day and night, always present inside us, it knows when it’s right to come out from the back of the mind and plague your thoughts and dreams through the night.

It makes you scream, or boil with hate. It tempts you to do nothing, laze around, always be late. Many families it has torn apart, ripping the love out of everyone’s heart. With illness comes misery, this it causes too. It forces you to steal; to always want and never be true.

Sin, evil, temptation – it has got multiple names, as people try to explain it in various ways. Different for all, yet its purpose is the same –lurking in every thought, it makes you play its game. It manifests in many different forms and shapes. It brings distress, lack of harmony, and pain.

It’s not scared of the dark, or of lions, of angels, demons, water, or fire, and makes you burn eternally with tempting desire. But the damage it has caused isn’t incurable; something can be done to restore people back to feeling merry and young. One thing remains that can heal all our scars –the spirit that was there at the bottom of Pandora’s jar. In the darkness of night, there’s a tiny flicker of day, And all the unfortunate yearn to find their way.

As Hope unsheathes its wings, all the beasts fear; warmth and courage spread to everyone who’s near. Hope takes flight, rays of the sun piercing the stale night air, Soon the night is gone and with it the fiend’s lair.

Hope is small and often forgotten, yet every monster rushes away, For with it all humans see a way, Sometimes a mere possibility, the slightest little chance, That things could be better at last. Turning blind to their problems, they look to that golden path, On which happily rule peace and love. That simple notion breaks the bonds of the dark, And casts all misfortunes away for years to come.

So we should remember, that whenever dark times come our way, Things will improve, hopefully, one day. And clinging to that thought, and letting our troubles go, We’ll take a leap of faith and go with the flow, Trusting that Hope will lead us on . . .