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Hope
Hope feels so strange these days, at times a bit
Like something old that now no longer fits;
It’s stretched beyond repair and somewhat scratchy
And moths have made of it such daily bread
That even its most solid parts feel patchy,
Its former comforts weak and thinly spread.
And then again at other, better times,
Unwarranted, unbidden, something climbs:
An ecstasy within the blood, a growing;
An upward pull (that cannot be withstood)
Into the strange, assured, and bright unknowing
Of something somewhere infinitely good.
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Jeffrey Essmann is an essayist and poet living in New York. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, among them Agape Review, America Magazine, Dappled Things, the St. Austin Review, U.S. Catholic, Grand Little Things, Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, and various venues of the Benedictine monastery with which he is an oblate. He is editor of the Catholic Poetry Room page on the Integrated Catholic Life website.
A lovely thought and poem leading to it.
I really like the way you drew out the first verse’s metaphor of an old, worn-out piece of clothing.
When I think about the current state of the world, I have a hard time feeling hopeful (or thinking hopefully). But your second verse — especially “something somewhere infinitely good” — reminds me of a theme that’s going through my head a lot lately: the strange and seemingly-impossible contrast between what is very evil, and what is extremely good, existing in the same world at the same time. (Like reading the latest news, and then listening to a glorious Bach fugue.)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
A very skilfully delivered piece that seems as if it’s been written effortlessly. The garment metaphor is not only unique but quite fitting with the first part of the theme. While the first part describes a lack of hope, the second part does its best to make us actually see the sudden (and, as the poem says: unwarranted, unbidden) surge of optimism. I think everyone will relate to this fine poem that expresses a feeling that’s quite subtle and nearly indescribable, filling an individual with life and vigour.
Jeffrey, this is a very well written poem. I especially enjoyed the primary image of hope being an old, ill-fitting garment. For surely our hopes from our youth are not (thank God) the ones for the future! But our clothes must grow with us and the idea struck me in the second stanza of the threadbare coat coming apart like a chrysalis opening up to new life: the resurrected man. A new garment, maybe a white robe of the Elect. You provide that evocation with the phrases “upward pull” into the “bright unknowing.” Excellent craftsmanship, Jeffrey!
Jonathan
Wondrously written, Jeffrey. “Daily bread” in the less hopeful portion recalls that hopeful Lord’s prayer we say many times a day, perhaps without enough gratitude for receiving the bread when we have to share it with moths (Biblical image for corruption not noticed until too late), or when the butter is “thinly spread.” But you do well in the superlatively hopeful portion of the poem to rhyme the significant “growing” and “unknowing,” in an equal number of lines piling up words to a point positively overflowing.
Thank you, Jeffrey. I very much agree with the positive and perceptive comments you’ve already received. Your poem does seem effortless, as Shamik has said, but I think that’s because of your gift for expressing deep thoughts and feelings clearly, succinctly and felicitously.
A beautiful poem that appears deceptively easy to read , in fact
‘ what oft is thought but ne’er so well expressed’ comes to mind
but as others have noted there is a depth to it that enables the reader to read and discover for themselves. A goldmine, thank you.
Thanks so much, everyone, for your very kind and very generous appreciation of the poem. As you can imagine, this was a piece that required as much prayer as poetics, and I can’t tell you how happy I am that it touched your own sensibilities (and aspirations) regarding hope. Again: many-many thanks–and God bless.
Jeffrey, this is truly beautiful. If I had to give a definition of hope that touched the heart and felt real in these dark times, it would be your uplifting words written with honesty and a warmth that sheds light and shows the way. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Susan. Given my respect for your own work, your kind words mean the world to me.