Positively radiant, Joanne Alfano’s “Hope” is a poem that crashes through darkness with its opening lines like a clarion call. And it’s closing lines are just as stark, just as radiant, just as vibrant. Joanne told The Dewdrop that “Hope” reflects the culmination of her own spiritual journey. “There is no one answer, there is only the experience of innate spirituality, seeking, and allowing yourself to experience and celebrate it,” Joanne remarked. She continued, “Fewer Americans claim to belong to an established church that ever before. Yet many people who check “NONE” when queried on their religious affiliation, seem to acknowledge some faith and/or spirituality. This [poem] reflects my journey from organized, patriarchal hierarchical religion to a joyful challenging spirituality.”
Hope
I am the answer within.
I am the one who glows in sunlight.
I am the one who drums your foremothers’ heartbeat,
the steady beat of rising and revealing and reveling.
After a day devoured, I am she who waits in the evening
for the twilight of peaceful exhaustion.
And at night, in the womb of darkness,
I am she who inhales the moon’s every cycle and
swallows it whole before it is reborn.
Yes, I am she, come again to hold you,
to bring you to my wisdom
grace and light, spirit and lumen.
Let your soul walk with me,
let your dreams and visions be mine;
share my energy and vision.
I am she who wakes with you,
who helps your eyes find their focus
and your muscles move.
Walk easily, steadily, eyes forward,
heart and mind open
breathing the morning air,
daring the dawn.
Walk with me through this window
to experience life within your soul
and beyond your imagination.
Walk gracefully through this world, live, seek,
reveal light, reflect light, be light
Joanne Alfano
Joanne Alfano’s recent poetry collection, dreams drumbeats heartbeats (2022), lives at the intersection of memory, anxiety and hope. This book offers a broad sample of her work, including poems that record and explore her spiritual journey, her life-long struggle with obesity, and her impressions of political and social upheaval. In 2020, she published Soul Tracks, a poetic memoir of her spiritual journey. She worked in human resource systems development and project management during a long career in the Federal sector. She “ran away from home” and retired to Florida with her life partner. She enjoys being with family, writing, reading, and watching old movies.
Best poem I’ve read in years