Hope Floats

Photo by Lee Lindsey McKinney

Memory and love have a way

of pulling us into

the rabbit hole of regret,

wishing for a do-over of circumstances

beyond our control.

We can almost convince ourselves

that, if we’d only said or done

something different, or maybe

shut up or done nothing,

we wouldn’t be treading water

in this gaping maw of loss.

Hope is forward momentum,

a life preserver tossed overboard,

or a random piece of flotsam,

buoying love toward the possibility

of an unknown shore – a coast

we didn’t know existed until now.

It’s not at all the paradise

we’ve spent our lives dreaming –

the one where plans come to fruition

and, at the very least, everyone survives.

Our prayer for you today is that

you’ll hold all the memories –

both beauty and pain,

as well as the mundane  –

despite their penchant

for weighing you down;

that you’ll let hope drift you

toward a distant landfall –

a place where windows and

doors long-locked, are opened,

and the sun rises each day,

promising possibility in the face

of a sea of exhaustion.

Hope floats; and our prayer

is that you’ll float with it,

as we float beside you.

© 2016 Todd Jenkins