All I need is hope.

Hope that my brother of 23

will be able to wash out the color

of our father's favorite shirt he wore

like the color that washed out of his face

as he lay dying

in our musty basement.

Hope that my brother and I

will fail to remember the pure white

of the hospital room where our grandmother

of 80 lost her campaign

with cancer. 

Hope that my grandfather wont forget

who takes care of him

as he wards off the demons

of dementia.

Hope that my brother won't lose another baby.

Hope that my mother wont have another heart attack,

at the age of 55,

like the one that killed our father just

a year ago. 

Hope that my brother doesn't get deployed for a third time

at the ripe age of 26.

I hope to God this year will be easier than the last.

At seventeen I've seen more things

than some people see in their lifetimes.

And that is why

All I need is hope.