On Hope

Rahi Patel

To swear you’ll never have it again

Is the biggest lie known to man.

We start all over again

Carrying the pain from our unfulfilled plans.

We cry to our mother

And make dark jokes with our friends.

We cope with beautiful songs

And bury our dreams in the sand.

The secret of us is sad

But it’s the only thing we’ve ever really had.

Despite the beatings on our soul

We find a desperate cling onto hope.

We hate to think it

Even more so to say it.

It renders naive sometimes to feel it

Yet it’s more foolish to not crave it.

Life without hope is endless despair

Then, there is no life left to spare.

Rahi Patel is a fourth year medical student. She is passionate about medical anthropology and the power writing has to foster deeper connections and enhance self-reflection.