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Becky's avatar

I came across this poem!!!

Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat

by Caitlin Seida

Hope is not the thing with feathers

That comes home to roost

When you need it most.

Hope is an ugly thing

With teeth and claws and

Patchy fur that’s seen some shit.

It’s what thrives in the discards

And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,

Able to find a way to go on

When nothing else can even find a way in.

It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such

diseases as

optimism, persistence,

Perseverance and joy,

Transmissible as it drags its tail across

your path

and

bites you in the ass.

Hope is not some delicate, beautiful bird,

Emily.

It’s a lowly little sewer rat

That snorts pesticides like they were

Lines of coke and still

Shows up on time to work the next day

Looking no worse for wear.

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Teresa Marks's avatar

Thanks so much, Eric. What an eloquent guideline for maintaining personal peace while staying engaged. It's a balancing act for sure. Just seems like some days, it's a balancing act in the circus. Hey, remember George Carlin said something like "When you're born, it's like you've been given a ticket to the circus and if you were born in the USA, it's a front row seat. 😉

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