Hope & Resilience

Opinion & Commentary

Hope is the thing with feathers illustration

Hope & Resilience

Over centuries, poetry has stepped in where uncertainty, chaos, injustice, and fear have taken root. Poetry lifts us up and moves us forward with determination. Explore these poems of hope and resilience. If you are inspired, share your own. [Art credit: Grace in Mr. Glazer's Class, YWP Archive]

From 'Poems of Hope and Resilience,' The Poetry Foundation

 

“Hope” Is The Thing With Feathers

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
 
That perches in the soul -
 
And sings the tune without the words -
 
And never stops - at all -
 
 
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
 
And sore must be the storm -
 
That could abash the little Bird
 
That kept so many warm -
 
 
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
 
And on the strangest Sea -
 
Yet - never - in Extremity,
 
It asked a crumb - of me.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
 
With your bitter, twisted lies,
 
You may trod me in the very dirt
 
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
 
 
Does my sassiness upset you?
 
Why are you beset with gloom?
 
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
 
Pumping in my living room.
 
 
Just like moons and like suns,
 
With the certainty of tides,
 
Just like hopes springing high,
 
Still I'll rise.
 
 
Did you want to see me broken?
 
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
 
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
 
Weakened by my soulful cries? ...
 
Poems of Hope and Resilience
 
 

Submissions

  • Poetry

    By twoblueviolets

    In the Box

    Pandora's box held Despair 
    it held the fated end,

    humanity held in a snare
    of their own offends

    but after the release, 

    in the box remained
    a single little spirit

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By g1378

    My Oak Tree, My Hope

    Nestled within the plains of the Midwest,

    Isolated and alone,

    Stands a wholesome oak tree.

     

    Her dark, chestnut body hemmed in by the mucky acorns, 

    Those of which were shed out of sorrow.

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By Gali

    My heart

    Dear,

    My heart

    You have marks showing what I've done

    You've seen things

    No one wants to see

    But you keep on beating

    You're battered and bruised

    You have scars

    Caused by pain

    By fear

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By -Sunflower-

    Rain

    I stand alone as the clouds turn grey...

    I watch as the rain starts to fall...

    I hear a roar of thunder in the distance...

    I see a bolt of lightning a few miles away...

     

    And yet...I feel safe not scared...

    Read More