When the world becomes something like hopeless.

i wish the world would go dark for once
forget and forget
i’ll let you rot
the people can forget you
they can weep about you
but it won’t ever bring back what you hated
biting into bread too hard—rotted. 
god, everything is rotted. 
desecrated. 
avenged.
leaving anything to your mercy was hard, wasn’t it?
a little too soft to be
stifling their cries and staunching their hunger
how much strength it must have took to become invincible
raking destruction at your core
this is what the hose is for:
(what you’re for)
to flood everything away
when everything’s in the way
everything is in the way
everything.

Process

This poem was inspired by and written with rejuvenation after reading the newest book in my favorite series that my mentor bought for me for my birthday. Throughout this year, especially from the fall of 2023, being so busy with college applications turned my passion for writing poems to writing burnout. Whenever I wanted to write, the flow of poetry didn’t come to me as before. I had—though it was not the first time—lost my love of writing poems. But, after finally sending in all my college applications in early January and getting a break from everything—and receiving this book—I was finally able to regather that predilection. I could now sit down and write, with music pumping through my ears and into wherever I cradled poetry.

In writing this poem, I weaved in events from my current life, especially this recent turmoil of war. I’ve always been a hopeful person, and still am, but recently just thinking about the reality of this world has made me very saddened by how quickly a future can become tarnished. With this in mind, I wrote this anger, this frustration, this carnage, this hope. Through jotting down “everything turns kind of cold” and releasing my emotions, I’ve become even more hopeful and yearning to help this world and those that are hurting. I want to remind people that there is still light, a path forward, and we must about-face and stride to strive for our future. Through this darkness, there will always be light to find in others and ourselves. And because I’m the way that I am, I end this with a quote from Amanda Gorman who reminds us of what strength, courage, and faith can do together: “For there is always light, / if only we’re brave enough to see it, / if only we’re brave enough to be it.”