Hope. (Where to find it).

There are [too] many people who feel they have no hope.

From the expectant mother who just lost her child,
to her U.S. factory-worker husband she has who just lost his job.
Later, they will lose their house.
If they can find no comfort in each other,
even their future capacity to hope will be lost,
perhaps forever.

There are children who have no hope of breakfast.
But maybe they will have something for their supper,
(if their mama 'lifts' a bit of food from the fridge at work).
Her job is paying little over $9.00hr (almost full~time too)...
but that barely covers her bus fare to get there/back;
her rent,
her heat
and her electricity.
She was happy to have an apartment,
even if it is one small bedroom,
for the 3 of them, that the water was included.
A good thing as they eat a lot of soup when they have the ingredients.
They might be poor, but they can still be clean. It is a matter of pride;
some nights Mama's only source of it too.
,They go to the library to dream of someone elses life
when the sounds outside their own home are too scary to even contemplate.
She has a pay-as-you-go cell phone,
and her minutes have already been used up for the month.

Then there is 'dad' -elsewhere-
He has a job too-
But has to dump his wages into his gas tank, and his child support.
He notes the derisive comments and sneers
as he fuels up and puts oil in his car.
He cannot afford to buy a newer car
so lots of his money goes for that upkeep.
He needs this old car to get to/from his work-
And his attendance is closely watched by the bosses too.
(See, he took his youngest child to the doctor once last month for strep throat, and has only one attendance 'miss' left for the year).
"Mom" could not take the child because she was sick with the flu-
A shot could have helped her
but since Dad makes too much to qualify for any medical aid from his state,
they have not had their own shots.
His children qualify for federal medical aid,
but they must pay for this also.
He fears that he will have to go to work sick with the flu
as he might have contracted it with that kiss he left her with
the morning she took ill.

There are people, the elderly seniors,
that have no way of paying for their medications,
let alone their taxes on the homes that they worked their entire lives for.
 They will die a little bit inside as the county takes their home
and sends them out on their sick, old, backsides
to take a small apartment,
with no room for all the things they have come to love.
Their children are now scattered in the winds;
with children and homes of their own to care for.
There is no time left for Mom and/or Dad.

There are people, young, the middle-aged, and the retired,
who have found that to 'live' they will stand in the cold,
and ofttimes brutal,
food lines to get a bag of rotting potatoes and bananas.
But that's OK because they can cut out the bad parts
and still get something to their stomachs.
And besides, their old mushy, sometimes moldy, banana
is much sweeter than a greener, and more firm one.
That little bit of mold is only on the outside anyway.
Or so they tell themselves.
Without that bit of self-brainwashing
they would only gag on those few sweet calories they are
trying to swallow.

There are street people, who weren't there a month ago-
Having lived their lives so tight to the heart that they now have lost it all.
No homes, no love, nobody.
They always knew they were one [small]paycheck away from disaster;
and they didn't notice that their job was next in line for the pink slip.
They will sleep on cardboard
over the sewer grates
knowing that the corrugated paper helps to retain what

little heat they receive there. They live daily, wondering
where their next meal,
their next pair of shoes,
or even a coat will come from.
Much like their food, it doesn't have to be new.

It just has to be warm.
There are youngsters,
and too many that go
both to school and then come 'home'
to whichever street their parents parked the car on that day.
They need the education,
and the free hot lunch,
even though the other kids are cruel enough to notice that
their lunch tickets don't match,
that they didn't pay for their food and are receiving free hot lunch.
But that's ok,
as they stash a bit of food in their pockets to take 'home' to mom and dad. They are the lucky ones,
even with the derision,
to have a guaranteed 5 hot meals each week
for 9 months out of the year.

The kids that don't cut it,
for whatever reason,
it will quit school to help out the family income as best they can.
Their stomachs and their pride do not care whether their help
is legal or not.
They are not above stealing or prostituting themselves
for their own good, or
for their families.
What dreams they had not only 6 months ago
have been taken away,
whether by choice or by chance
(but always someone elses 'choice').

There are strippers
who make more in one night than many white collars make in a week.
You see them stripping
and accuse them to be immoral and 'wrong';
even though God said it is not our place
to 'judge' anyone else.

There are "the" people of Faith-
and all religions,
who have watched
as THEY have allowed their 'church' be destroyed.
Not only 'allowed',
but have helped it along
by screaming their own 'gospel' interpretation
at any stranger they pass.
They have forgotten that simplistic Golden Rule
that every heart should embrace, whether religiously or not.
In time
they will only pass on their hatred
of others that [they judge to be]
or
are different from them.
In fact they all bleed red;
as you do also.
They laugh,
and they cry,
and they only work for,
and dream of,
the best for themselves and the people that they love.
It's just that sometimes "their very best" only equals
their next breath over that steaming sewer grate.
Oh yes, we all breathe too.

There are political people,
everywhere,
that have not only abandoned their personal morals and tenets;
but worse,
 they have abandoned their constituents to pad their pocketbooks.
For us to prove the actual depth
and scope
of this all,
we would all have to go offshore,
as Wall Street is but a small player
where Switzerland,
and Sudé Americana,
is concerned.
They will happily live out their own senior years,
secluded from their home states
 and their nation,
to go where their money is.

It is said that
"where there is life there is hope"...
But it is a hard thing to pass along
when you find your own self
questioning the very definition of hope.

Look around as you go to dinner somewhere downtown.
Look around as you read your newspapers.
Look around as you drive around.
Look at the child crossing the street by themselves still carrying an armload of books.
Look around at the library and the post office. Besides Barnes & Noble's fireside reading rooms, and Goodwill stores, these are quite possibly the only 2 public places left to warm up for a minute
Look around at the senior resting up against a building because he has not even a cane left to his name.
Look around as you are tempted to think you are better than anyone else. (You're not).
Look around to notice that someone is sick,
and in need
of a doctor and a prescription.

Just look around at all the people. Really, truly notice them.

Then look inside yourself.

...Sometimes, it is enough to make you gag.

top banana image from sogoodblog.com
***Complete text is © 2012