Hope is a Junkyard Sparrow

My books are available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid

Hope is the little feral furry thing
that sits on a shelf behind your heart
when the room smells of sweat
and old beer,
and the streets haven’t cut you any slack
since last Tuesday.

It’s the last nickel in your pocket,
scratching against your thigh
while you count your steps to the liquor store
and hope they still sell
airplane bottles of that cheap vodka.

It’s breath
and a junkyard sparrow,
shallow, ragged,
in the alley behind the tavern,
where neon paints the sidewalk
and rain tastes like ambrosia.

It’s the little bluebird
that keeps your hand moving
over the keyboard,
over the crumpled paper,
even when the specters in the corners
laugh at your obstinate drive.

It’s the click in your brain

that whispers,
Don’t quit yet,
while the world collapses around you,
while nights stretch into eternity,
and the last coffee filter ran out days ago.

Hope doesn’t beg for fame or aplomb.
It doesn’t polish itself.
It slithers beneath the skin,
a little blood, a little breath,
and somehow,
it keeps you waking up.

Author's Note

If you’d like to hear more of my work, I recently posted a long-form poetry reading on my YouTube channel — one or two poems from each of my four books, read in a relaxed, uninterrupted session.

You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2euFFCXLI

Thank you for reading and supporting independent poetry.

— Thomas W. Case

Reviews

[...]

Yes! Those small bottles! I've seen them but never got to that point.
My walls were melting when my hands were scraping wet paint with the point of my pen.
The same need, a little bit different display of desparation.
You are so inspiring! Your coffee filters ran out...
I was shooting coffee because that's all I could get at the time.
KInd of Like Bukowski drinking all that beer when you know he wants that much rot gut whiskey.
You blow my skirt up...ever heard that one? You're great! Thanks for posting.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[John the Baptist]

Thomas, your imagery gets better with every offering. This one oddly made me think of First Corinthians Thirteen, St. Paul's great meditation of faith, hope and charity. I don't know if Paul would have clicked with the junkyard sparrow image of hope, but I'm sure he would have dug the last words: it's what keeps you waking up.

[Desert Knave]

Beautiful. I still scratch at the crumpled paper because I cannot imagine not doing so. ~Jim

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.