Hope and Effort

Hope and Effort When the sky is veiled with a dark hue And the days are windy and cold, When prospects for the sky to turn blue Are dim, remote and far from bold, When darkness spreads over our life And living is a daily strife, When chances for brightness to recur In the near term are faint and blurred, When fate has hurled us in a ditch And dreams seem to be out of reach, But the youthful hue sits on our skin Like a plant newly flowering, Like the freshness of a morning dew And the joints carry manly strength, Hopes for summer to bring anew Brighter sunny days at length May truly rejoice the heart, A solid sense of strength impart, Cheer up the spirit for a while And on the face restore a smile. Yet hope can turn out to be futile If it rests on grounds that are sterile And not tendered with rightful care Or left alone to its own fare; Dreams may remain only as dreams If not propelled with with proper steam, Hopes for a better tomorrow Can be the cause of sorrow If not cemented with efforts Aimed at improving our own lot. Hope may lead to a world of illusion And give rise to sad delusion; It can`t serve as a prop for long, Nor does man survive on hope alone; Our beloved goals to achieve We need to roll up the sleeves, Set our hands to relentless toil And not let our chances to spoil As to make our dreams come true To ally hope with efforts is the clue. When the wrinkles of age creep in And the bones become weak and thin, When health stares at us with a jeer And there is no ground for a cheer, We may slow down the pace of our engine Or give a break to our machine, But we need not let dark despair grip our mind, Or allow sad thoughts to bring life to a grind; We need to let the light of hope brighten our day And divine thoughts ever guide our way. Even if storms should spread their fear Let us not give up, but maintain the gear, Even if thunder should tear the sky, Let us ever raise the flag of hope up high, Even in the pitch of the night When the horizon is out of sight Let us propel our journey with efforts And with the light of hope in our heart These will illuminate our soul And lead us to our goal. Written by Krishnanand Guptar 12 February 2023