I see hope

Dear sun,

Dear winds,

Dear world,

If you hear my plea, I ask of your help.

I’m losing my grip,

I’m falling,

My mind like a prison of depression.

This doubt, this anxiety, this darkness is killing me.

My conscious is spiraling out of control.

It’s getting hazy,

A blur,

Is it you?

I cannot see,

Nor hear,

Nor feel.

My mind is like a pouring hurricane was mixed with a swarm of locusts and hornets, stinging and demolishing.

The chains, they hold me,

Held to the wall by darkness,

Confined to the void of the lonely cell in my mind.

I cannot escape.

“Yes you can,” says Hope.

No I can’t. I can't, I can't, I can't.

Get up.

I’m falling. I cannot.

Open your eyes.

I cannot; they are closed, forever.

Lift your head, dear child.

I cannot. It is lowered as this grief fills my chest, I cannot breathe.

You are strong.

I am weak.

You are kind.

I am awful.

You are brave.

I am terrified.

You are found.

I am lost.

No. You are not. Get up. Lift your head. See me, I’m here. Remember the sun, remember the winds, remember the plains and the mountains that stretch to heaven. Remember the sky, the blue that feels endless as you look up. Remember life, child. Remember why you are here.

…Why am I here, Hope? When I have lost sight of you and your beautiful smile. Why can I not remember you? Why am I here?

You are here to heal, to guide, to dream, to do, to live, to try, to learn, to be you. That is your purpose, to live and create worlds of wonder with a hand and a pencil on paper. Open your eyes, child, you were born to dream.

And I listen, and open my eyes, and see.

The world’s light shines through the bars in this cell, and for once, I remember Hope's smile.

“I’m here,” they say, the chains do not break, but they loosen.

“Stay strong. It may not be fine, but it will be,” they say, the bars disappear, the door opens. No guarantee of freedom, but hope.

“Lift your head up, child, open your eyes, believe; I’m here.”