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In formless sky you flew,
and I knew not then what to call
this pow’r I saw in you:
the will, the passion most of all,
the spark alight in eyes
so fresh, so young, so new and bright.
They gained a diff’rent guise;
they dimmed, and so began the Fight—
the War to start all wars,
the rending, tearing, casting out,
the Fall through Heaven’s Doors.
Then—holding fast, my death of doubt.
And yet was it a death?
For in my soul kindled a flame,
fed with each needless breath,
each whisp’ring wonder of your name.
‘For where there’s life, there’s hope,’
I murmur in this star-flung sky.
Oh, where there’s life, there’s hope:
a smould’ring fire that will not die.
Atop a wall I stood
with worried heart and empty hands.
Oh, have I done the good?
I watch as they perform a dance
of need, of blade and flame,
of lunge and parry, ebb and flow.
Your gift to them brought shame.
But mine? They’ll reap what I have sown
in blood and ash and tears,
in sleepless nights and fresh-dug earth,
in huddled terror, in fear.
And who can promise that it’s worth
the joy of living free,
not captive within walls of stone?
But you stand next to me—
between us, they are not alone.
‘For where there’s life, there’s hope,’
I whisper in the creeping night.
Oh, where there’s life, there’s hope.
And truth and fire—they both bring light.
We meet again on high.
You have your job and I’ve mine too.
You look me in the eye;
You lie—for that’s what demons do—
And yet this lie is love,
And neither kid nor child should fear.
You shield them from Above,
from heartless forms with stone-deaf ears.
You see them and you know
that they care not for what is lost.
If Her true might is shown,
is that not then worth any cost?
And so, intent, you stare;
I eat and question all I knew,
and by the end, I dare
to set my compass upon you.
For where there’s life, there’s hope,
and I may Fall here where I stand
,
but where there’s life, there’s hope
in sun-gold eyes and offered hand.
At last there comes a day
when you and I stand side by side,
And what more can we say
Beyond that platitude: ‘we tried.’
Flames could not match your pow’r;
I bore a body not my own.
But in this fateful hour,
it seems as if we stand alone.
And yet—there is a child,
A son of Earth in ways that count,
Imagination wild,
A heart that beats for friends and hound.
And this—this gives me hope:
this boy whose love is strong and true
for family, for home.
We hold his hands and guide him through.
For where there’s life, there’s hope:
A little child to lead the way.
Oh, where there’s life, there’s hope—
And sparks grow into mighty flames.
Through corridors I pass
into a hall of jeering crowds.
If this moment’s my last,
at least I will have made you proud—
a rubber duck, a towel,
the horror dawning on each face,
their anger when I scowl
and say, ‘let me go my own way.’
At last they send me home
where I must wait with bated breath
for your return unknown;
our plan could still result in death.
But then I see your face—
my face!—wearing your crooked grin.
We touch, we swap in place.
You smile and offer ‘Let me tempt?’
For where there’s life, there’s hope:
your love a beacon in the dark.
Oh, where there’s life, there’s hope—
and hope and love blaze in my heart.
We pass the yawning years
in peace and quiet here on Earth,
for all that we hold dear
is formed of sweat and tears and dirt.
These treasures young and old—
such beauty forged by minds of men,
their gifts as yet untold,
their spark a beacon from within.
And from whence comes that spark?
Is it the gift of Her on high?
Or is it born of dark,
of pain, of love, of flick’ring light?
The bone-white halls Above
know naught of what it is to give
oneself to make with love,
to craft with hands, create and live.
For where there’s life, there’s hope:
a flame in hearts so strong entrenched.
Oh, where there’s life, there’s hope—
and hope will not be swiftly quenched.