Hope is the Thing that Gives Us More Time

Leni Marshall

Hope is the thing that gives us more time.

            Hope beguiles us to believe in longer.

            Hope conducts the imaginary of better, of cure.

Time is the thing that gives us more hope.

            Time spins visions of possible futures.

            Time dwarfs the personal tang of our fear.

“Hope time” as a home is irrational, naïve; as a destination,

remote, perhaps marooned, off the map.

“Time hope”: a new branch of philosophy,

            same as the old. Is the desire for assurances

            of progress a sign of progress?

Hope is the thing that is not a wish, that we can make

            come true (unless it is just a wish).

Hope is the thing that we can become.

Leni Marshall, Ph.D., is a principal consultant at LeaderSHIFT In and is the Intercultural Development Ambassador and a Professor of English and Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Marshall’s publications include poetry, articles, and books on intercultural awareness, age studies, inclusion, disability studies, and contemporary culture.