where there is life – there is hope

as we neared the place 

where prayers  

were the last best hope,

the lines became so blurred  

it was hard to tell 

the deserts from the seas . . .

the first warnings  

of global warming:  a far off, 

far-fetched distant memory –

and then, a miracle happened:  

one by one humanity 

stopped poisoning

the planet that they shared,

for slowly, it became terrifyingly clear –  

all hope was lost

without a world 

that could support . . . 

life

“While there’s life, there’s hope.” Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Philosopher 106 BC–43 BC. 

“Where there's hope, there's life.” Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, 1947.

note:  the prompt from Poetry Jam this week was “Deserts” – physical deserts and metaphorical deserts. 

photo:  Sea Water – W. Bourke

 © 2014 Wendy Bourke