You can't tell the children there’s no hope
A poem about darkness and light in rhyming couplets
The Alchemists Clubhouse is a weekly newsletter of art, poetry, and coaching tips. Full members have access to live and recorded workshops on Zoom.
Tonight is my final journaling workshop of the year, live on Zoom at 4pm PST. Our theme is the Winter Solstice, the darkest hour before the light begins its slow return. This is a potent time for wishing! For more information and how to join, see link below.
I drafted this poem two months ago, shortly after the US election in November. Like many of you, I was initially stunned and terrified of dozens of potential nightmare scenarios, including climate catastrophe, as referenced in a few of these lines.
I’m feeling more centered now, and have re-prioritized some of my effort and energy for the coming years toward local community building and to reinforcing the connections I already have with friends and action groups.
In a way that feels appropriate this week as we approach the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, these rhyming couplets walk along the edge of darkness, calling to the light.
You cannot tell the children there’s no hope
After James Baldwin, quoted “I never have been in despair about the world. I’ve been enraged by it. I don’t think I’m in despair. I can’t afford despair. I can’t tell my nephew, my niece. You can’t tell the children there’s no hope.”
You can’t tell the children there’s no hope,
even as the road begins to slope.
Pitching sideways through a wintry pass,
the way is bleak and reeks of burning grass.
Char enrobes the body of the earth–
a carbon cloak of dark awaits each birth.
Yet trees are ever sculpted by the wind
and rock so weathered drifts to sea as sand
From blackest night to morning we move through–
may unexpected worlds emerge in you.
May unexpected worlds emerge in you!!!! Beautiful line, beautiful thought, and beautiful poem. THank you for this hopeful poem!