-- Falling into Hope --

John Herlihy

The virus awakens,

What the heart forsakens.

I admit it, my fear lingers,

Its presence, its probing fingers.

Here at the end of a rope,

Falling, I am falling into hope.

Flirting on the edges of despair,

Everything I do becomes a prayer.

Now is the time to forget,

All those things I ever regret.

Now surely the time to remember,

Indian summer in late September.

Wild geese in flocks flying south.

A squirrel gathering nuts, one in its mouth.

The bear, ready for winter sleep, on its way.

The wolf hound howling under the Milky Way.

Never to go back to live as before,

A heightened awareness lies in store.

To be who we are, to simply be the best,

To the mercy of God, leave all the rest.

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(c) John Herlihy 6 May 2020