Best Hope Society Poems
There will come a day
when people remember a time
when thorns of selfishness
were topped with roses of kindness.
When bonds were strengthened
through thoughts and words,
not kisses or embraces.
When people became heroes,
their only superpower was that they cared.
When so much that we valued
abandoned us, like feathers in the wind,
and left us holding on to what really matters.
When we tired of fear, and swam for hope.
And hope whispered, that day will not be long,
for that time is today,
so smile, be kind, be good, be well.
Be strong.
peace is a dove, a branch, a bridge, an offered hand, a shared land
7/08/22
The Art of Peace contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
4th Place
A cup of cold tea
A hungry dog begging for attention
A crying baby
Flower petals begin to bloom
What is Woke
Unbridled intention or activism shrouded by an enveloping cloak?
Doing Good
Embracing causes from some unwritten book.
Driving Equity
Is there some clarity or just another term for charity.
Pro-Choice
For set boundaries to be given a clear voice.
Gender-Neutral
A novel fad or a path to personal renewal?
Gay Rights
To live a life without the need for constant fights.
Homeless Plight
Society's need to choose what's wrong or right.
Substance Abuse
An epidemic that needs firm action not excuse.
Open Borders
If uncontrolled a breeding ground for horrors.
Carbon Neutral
A stark requirement lest our future be most brutal.
Glass Ceiling
Breaking boundaries seemingly unyielding.
Me Too
Spiking conversations that once were just taboo.
There's no ready song book
To how this should sound or simply just look,
The line is precariously fine
When our social mores often turn on the tone of a solitary line.
Some we get right
Where the path may be bathed in moral sunlight,
Others might flail
Promoted by Twitters’ loud mocking wail.
But try we so must
To craft a society that’s fair and inherently just.
While criticism is rarely benign
To also care deeply is never malign.
So let us unite if not all then just some
To craft a new world where we’re different but One.
Just flip a coin
And you'll enjoy
A newborn, bouncing baby boy.
Just flip a coin
And find a pearl
A newborn, bouncing baby girl.
Both born co-equal at the start -
Co-equal with a heart, a mind,
Yet differ as their lives unwind.
Yes, down the lengthy road of life
Through messages for roles we send
Co-equal mostly seems to end.
Abilities become obscure
And with that fondest hopes and dreams
Assigned disparate paths it seems.
With such great promises arrayed
To key the very start of things
What cost by loss destiny brings.
Co-equal at the start of life,
Co-equal at the very end,
It's years between time should amend.
Then, what must take place after this
Without in fact assigning "blame"
In this unequal coin flip game?
Controversy! Controversy!
Is social media's economy
Lies and confusion is the only way to make money
Hating our neighbors but loving overseas
Blinding the sighted so now no-one will ever sees
Leaders of those nation, calling us enemies
In our history will the mystery of conspiracies
Money, the root of evil, it be
A con for the money verse, see
Twenty twenty vision, Their illusion is the mission
People's intuition is based on radio and television
The lost a generation, is reason for kids missing
The devil is grinning with the lies his spinning
As religions are slaughtered by simple sexual sinning
The dark days are here! Death is really winning!
Controversy! Controversy!
Was the truth from Marcus Garvey sold out for rice
Now the youth is blood pay, a secrifice
due to useless morals you face is the price
Because closed book and minds run this age
As evil men piss the nation at the world stage
All over Twitter, Facebook and news turn page
Joblessness is fashionable and all the rage
No more gravity, reality is lost to this society
'Cause the quantity of two faced people's hypocrisy is commodity
As Lies and more lies, laced with hips and thighs, see
In hope this verse tries to clean the whole of humanity.
Slate clouds stretch low
over urban rooftops,
sun’s hopeful warmth
vanquished:
man with a limp
pauses.
his weary eyes,
wary,
survey that sky,
grimy gangling
fingers
fidget
buttons,
wind biting through
plaid jacket’s
worn fabric;
on, he hobbles
behind
shopping cart,
cluttered and dull,
left front wheel
shimmying,
sere, dun leaves
and discarded wrappers
tumble, rustle
alongside
in the gutter.
Reporters swarmed, the rabid jackals,
around my house they made a big crowd,
even harassed my poor old mother
to the point she could barely go out.
I growled loud at more than a few,
got one locked up for trespassing,
thankfully they found other nonsense
and the frenzy wasn’t long-lasting.
But the damage had truly been done,
the internet will never forget,
I was practically a murderer,
commenters publicly wished me dead.
My love life soon faded to nothing,
barely went on two dates in three years,
more than one time, I'm ashamed to say,
I wondered why I remained here?
With people just judging by the group,
and my ‘group’ was my family ties,
condemned for things that I never did,
forever doomed to be despised.
Until one spring day this Christian girl
saw my profile and then swiped right.
I didn’t have high expectations,
but decided to go out that night.
Her name was Ester, when I saw her
I decided then on a new play,
told her about me, all right upfront,
then waited for what she would say.
She just smiled back, a knowing grin,
said,”I knew who you were from the start.
Had worries at first, then I recalled
the memories that plague my own heart.
“You see my father is a bad man,
used his fists and caused me to despair,
beat up my mother so very bad
she is forever bound to a chair.
“He is in jail now, for forty years,
but I am not to blame for his sins.
So who was I to disparage you?
I have no idea what lies within.
“No one should ever be held to blame
for something that's beyond their control.
I’m not my dad, and you’re no tyrant,
what you are I’d like to get to know.”
For the first time in so many months
I felt new hope spring up in my mind.
I’m Ester’s husband, seven years on,
no finer woman can you find.
We have two kids, a suburban house,
a big one with a three-car garage,
when media comes, I let her loose,
they go scurrying from the barrage.
I no longer worry all that much
about what other people say,
I am no killer, just a father,
so let the useless talking heads bray.
They all just see my evil grandpa,
and never truly will understand,
maybe I was born son of tyrants,
but I myself am a good man.
…and they will not take that from me.
Apocryphal
Misleading
Egotistical
Reckless
Illusion
Comical
A Fool's paradise
Non-negotiable
Deceptive
Radical
Expendable
Alluring
Manufactured
Where There Is Honesty
Where there is honesty,
there is trust.
Where there is trust,
there is freedom.
Where there is freedom,
there is fulfillment.
Where there is fulfillment,
there is wholeness.
Where there is wholeness,
there is giving to others.
Where there is giving to others,
there is relationship.
Where there is relationship,
there is community.
Where there is community,
there is growth.
Where there is growth
…we flourish.
It is a beautiful thing to witness when such a basic human need
blossoms into something we all desire.
The Lord provides hope and happiness day by day,
This is God's blessing and way.
To live in a society both complex and divine,
This society both human and refined.
Talents respected and enhanced,
A chance to celebrate life and dance.
There is always hope for tomorrow,
God provides us with intelligent companions, perhaps only to borrow.
They are there for awhile,
Visiting with us on our isle.
Tomorrow they may have gone their independent way,
Perhaps they only stayed for a day.
Each day when the sun rises and the sun sets,
God's beauty is everywhere to appreciate yet.
To breathe the fresh air and to know God cares for us,
All relatives and friends each day and night, a friendship ever so bright.
Blessings so many and so kind and to return home to the Lord divine,
A God complex and refined, a good and loyal companion of mine.
Author: Gwen Meyer-Erlach Schutz
We stand on ice that feels much too thin,
six feet suddenly feeling like miles.
Our footing is loose on this shaky ground,
and the cracks can be heard all around.
I see the fearmongering, the conspiracies,
the boredom and the sadness of separation,
the blame and the vitriolic remarks -
yet amidst it all, I also see sparks.
They reside in the eyes of the kind, the saints,
they light the fires in our heroes' hearts.
They shocked the minds that took this crazy race to space,
and they'll carry us out of this frightening place.
They kindle the muse in the artists,
keeping everyone as sane as can be.
They ignited that burning midnight oil
that fuels the healer's noble toil.
There they are, surrounding so many hands,
touching but for the pane of glass;
there again, glinting on that man's flag as stars,
shining for those in the passing cars.
On our media they jump from post to post,
from puzzles to videos, to jokes and "I spys",
from pictures to chatting, and all in between -
living in smiles passed through a screen.
Yawning before us is this chasmic abyss,
but we have what it takes not to fall.
Hope is in those sparks, our humanity, our drive -
let them burn, let them spread, and we will survive.
AI: panacea or pain? Contest //Sponsored by: Simon Rogerson
Contest Judged: 9/9/2025 6:59:00 AM
( Ist Place )
Written: August 10, 2025
A whisper born of code and light,
vast potential, a promising sight--
yet twilight sprawl where circuits reign.
Panacea — or pulse of pain?
We hold the key, the spark, the fear,
to pave the way — far and near.
There you are -Filled with the brightness of your beautiful face,
And men who run behind your beauty like a rat-race,
And here I am - Alone in the dark,
Singing for you like a lone skylark.
My world is dark without you,
I am in love with you like others-too,
But I also value your attitude,
For which I have always shown you my gratitude.
Now you are away from me,
I too am separated from you,
But I wish I could see you once again - Free,
Yes-Free for loving me once again.
You are the Moon and Venus combined,
But I am not Poseidon or Cupid,
When your words will one day find-
-Me alone in this dungeon of darkness you will find me lying down like a stupid.
You got me to a bower of mulberry blue,
And made me stick to it like with a glue,
You gave me the joy of expressing the self,
And filled with the books of joy - My shelf.
When I write you I feel I am in heaven,
And I won't be harmed even by the black raven,
You gave me joy and made me pine,
For writing you and craving for you time and again-
Like a glass jar of sweet red wine.