Sharon Kalt

“Hope

It started out as snow,
oh,
big flakes
floating
softly,
catching on my sweater,
lacy on the edges of my sleeves.

Snow covered the dust,
softened the
fences,
soothe the parched lips
of the land.
And then it changed
halfway between snow and rain,
sleet,
glazing the earth.

Until at last
it slipped into rain,
light as mist.

It was the kindest
kind of rain
that fell.

Soft and then a little heavier,
helping along
what had already fallen
into the hard-pan
earth
until it
rained,
steady as a good friend
who walks beside you,
not getting in your way,
staying with you through a hard time.

And because the rain came
so patient and slow at first,
and built up strength as the earth
remembered how to yield,
instead of washing off,
the water slid in,
into the dying ground
and softened its stubborn pride,
and eased it back toward life.”
― Karen Hesse