Joy is…Hope is…The Future is…

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Joy is…

Joy is powerful

It holds us close

Like a hug of warmth

Blocking out the hate

Telling us that 

“You’ll be okay”

Never selfish, never mean

Joy lifts us up 

 

Joy feels like flowers getting watered

By that one joyful soul

Known only as a teacher

At one of your performances

Ms. Pickett beaming

Ms. Miller’s wit

It lights up your heart

Joy fills your soul

 

Joy moves us to be the best versions of ourselves

Through the murk of ignorance that clouds our judgments 

That creates disarray in our identity

But when one truly finds themselves 

That fog clears

And joy radiates

 

Hope is…

Hope is our protector from adversity

Hope forgives when we are not at our best

Hope is not without risk

 

Our world is filled with hate

From George Floyd to Michelle Go to Buffalo, New York

But we still must find hope

 

Our world is filled with violence 

From Sandy Hook to Parkland to Uvalde

But we still must find hope

 

It feels impossible not to be swallowed by despair 

As if your lungs have failed you

Grasping, holding, surviving onto the last bit of life

There is no more chance to breathe

But hope persists

 

Hope is taking a risk and having it pay off

A young girl coming out of the darkness to open arms 

And celebration

A teacher’s resolve

Mrs. Fernandez with tears of joy

Hope breathes life 

It is our protector

Our oxygen

 

The future is…

The future is courage and humility.

Courage from braving the danger

Considering the risks

Of being alive in this current world

 

Having the humility to say, “I don’t know how.”

Being open to observing, to discovering, to loving

To embrace the unknown

And to acknowledge the absolute anguish that consumes us 

When our vulnerability is desecrated

 

But we must persist with Joy and Hope.

My generation understands the weight of the road ahead

The future is complicated

“I don’t know how.”

But I know it’s my responsibility

 

Joy is

Hope is

The future is

Ours