Two Poems by Michelle Smith

Two Poems

By Michelle Smith

Hope: The Heartbeat of Humanity 

Hope nourishes a famished heart 

and brightens a discouraged spirit; 

it cleanses souls in search of renewal 

and animates those who fall prey to despair. 

Hope fills apathy with enthusiasm 

and infuses sorrow with optimism; 

it breathes life into stagnation 

by igniting motivation. 

Hope seeks to bring order to chaos, 

to renew determination with zeal; 

it invigorates the collective psyche 

and sparks the heartbeat of humanity. 

See Jane Write (An Ode to Critique Sessions) 

There once was a writer named Jane 

whose work her peers struggled to tame. 

Though her themes seemed global 

and her effort was noble 

perfection was not hers to claim. 

Back to the drawing board she’d go 

with her red-ink edits in tow 

to start a revision 

etched with precision 

and a fresh new lyrical flow. 

Yet the verbiage she spewed perplexed 

all those who dared pore through her text. 

So it shouldn’t seem odd 

that she failed to prod 

her colleagues to read what came next. 

With another draft promptly done 

Jane failed to impress even one. 

Thus she wrote as she pleased 

rambling on with ease 

whilst deploying an occasional pun. 

Her classmates remained most skeptical 

as her work was quite the spectacle— 

not unlike the rest, 

a word salad at best— 

fodder for the nearest receptacle. 

Jane threw up her hands in disgust 

having lost all hope and much trust. 

So she sat down to compose 

a manuscript of prose 

she was certain was more than just fluff. 

With her peers she’d finally make peace 

as her doubts would at last recede. 

Then lo and behold 

the next story she told 

was deemed a great masterpiece.