I don’t know if there is hope for people
who are drawn in by a man who convinced them
any bad thing they hear about him is fake news,
to the point they cheer him on as he does evil,
believing evidence of his administration’s harm is lies,
betraying the goodness in their own hearts.

I don’t know if there is hope for people who cling
to those elected saying loudly they oppose him,
insisting they will save us,
while those supposed saviors quietly
line their pockets with money
from the same parties who fund the man,
doing nothing to stop the harm.

I don’t know if there is hope
any of these folks might pause if they knew
there is not a single road they must walk
in one direction or the other,
that to leave the harmful behind does not mean
they have to follow the opposite way.

I don’t know if there is hope that
it might break through the rhetoric
and cause them to listen to their own questions
if they saw there are many
off-ramps, side roads, walking trails,
such a delightful array of other paths
that people have taken back to
themselves and their own goodness.

I don’t know if there is hope
but I want to believe that there is,
and that one day soon we will see each other
out here in the beautiful wilderness
we all discovered when we walked away
from the false duality of that road,
hearts healing, hands helping,
working for collective liberation.