Hope in Dark Places

Poem written for Hammer & Tongue Bristol, November 2015 - inspired by the poems of the support act and the slammers, and with a pinch of Bristol itself thrown in.

Hope in Dark Places

We have gathered in the valley,
Growing slowly towards the sky,
Waving towards blue.
We twitch dream-tails,
Ancestral bones flowing together
In blood-waters thick as cream,
Leaving lonely alone for a while.
Because the beat won't stop.

And big pauses talk of
Big ideas, gleaming across
Broken glass reflecting red-hot coals.

Leaping over the perfect moment;
Meant to be? or only a blink,
A miniscule flicker of fate...

We reach to the stars,
Burn ourselves on the change
Of nature, consumed

Brewing confusion and black suspicion,
Sometimes mugging
For the sake of stability.

Committing to spicy variety,
Mourning meatier traditions
For the sake of serenity.

Short falls summon joy,
Tall tales flailing their ways
Into gifting hearts.

Dance steps teeter into
The next breath, beckoning
Yearnings for the rain's freedom song.

We shake free of tarry coils,
Boiling with bruises, losing
Nothing but weakness.

And we are super-powered,
Showering the nation with
Greatness, oblating haters.

We have come to the valley.
And we have left it
Better than ever.