honesty, hope

i have permission to publish a friend's poem here; finding it to be such a poignant expression of honesty and hope for our culture and times...

New Year's Eve 2017

Fireworks surround our cheap hotel
It was a dismal, bruising year
Short-lived dazzle and sulfur smell
What is there to celebrate here?

#Resist and #MeToo but
#BlackLives(Still Don't)Matter
Hurricanes and earthquakes
Empty gun control chatter

Tomorrow we lay my grandmother down
Her vacant place a silent chair
Each grief an assault, no words will be found
Yet traces of hope pierce the air

Fiery messengers whistle and squeak:
A shout, this flare of ours
Bumping along on rock bottom, we
Send rockets toward the stars

by Alison H.