POETRY: crucial to this battle

I’d like to share a poem here each month; here’s to writing about hope. 


crucial to this battle


is there any loveliness
equal to buying oneself flowers?
or to placing the fallen buds in a little jar of water on the nightstand?

is there any triumph like football —
no, to be specific, like the grin on my boy’s face
when he’s dirtied his jersey
by tackling the monster 87.
A win or a loss can’t beat
that grin, that dance,
the way he ruffles his hair when he pulls his helmet off.

is there a moratorium on despair
when a baby chuckles and coos
or when my friend hugs me
all squishy with sangria-happy arms
and a face I want to smooch?

is there anything more hopeful
than rising again into the
sunlight with a heart that
keeps beating?

and is there anything more
crucial to this battle than joy?

Are you a poet? Comment below– I’d love to follow you!