we can do more than hope
Colorado Springs, CO
2020, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
i guess that maybe, sometimes
if we looked behind us and saw
all the destruction
that we were causing, we could
think—because we are smart, in a sense—
of a way
to stop everything that we’ve done.
but if we really did look behind us,
& we saw all of our mistakes,
there would really be only a few
who could still hope
for the best, after seeing our past.
if we can look at the oceans,
and see all of our mistakes in those
tear-filled waters,
we may be able to go back.
maybe, just maybe.
and maybe, if we only knew how the oceans sigh with desperation,
then maybe, just maybe, we could help.
there are some people out there
who speak the tongue of the oceans,
and water is their native language.
if they can be born of the water, then so can we.
if they can hope for a better future, then so can we.
but hoping is not the only thing we can do.
if we want a better future,
we need to make it ourselves.
we can do more than hope. we can change the world.
Reflection
I want to be able to make a difference. Most people do. But when we don't know how to help, we usually do nothing. I've learned that nothing is one of the worst things to do, regardless of the scenario. We can't keep hoping for somebody else to stand up when we won't do it ourselves. We are the next generation, and if our actions in the present show what we’ll be like in the future, then we live in a sorry world. Sometimes I get annoyed with myself for not taking a stand. I just hope that somebody else will. But today, I’m going to change that.