It was when

I laid my head on my backpack

looking up at the frost bitten night

exploding with bits of lost diamonds over velvet black

that I saw it

 

It was when

I wore my polkadot rain boots

sloshing over a shallow autumn puddle

crushing the soggy leaves carnelian red

that I saw it

 

It was when

I held that knarled old hand

shaking for his weary body and heart

stopping at last in those sheets snow white

that I saw it

 

It was when

I ran out of my Houston house

finding the softness of the twig light sky

stilling my ambivalence with its fire fading blue

that I saw it

 

It was exactly where

fear swore it’d never come

And exactly where

I’d hoped to hope

it’d be

 

It was when

I tucked myself in the college bed

settling down in the new room and new year

breathing in the faithful Air warmed with twinkling gold

that I saw it

 

It was then

I saw Hope

and I knew

that Hope

saw me.