Necessary Optimism

It is an act of optimism, the planting
on the edge of oceans and storms,
on the edge of the chaos of weather
none of us can control. It is trust
that roots will take hold, dig deep,
cling to the sandy soil just enough
to live for the next season, and the next.
You must believe it is worth the work
despite the storming of the seas
again and again. And so you plant.
you wait to see what is washed to sea
and what remains, and for how long,
sure it will be enough, or at least sure enough
to keep planting.

About this poem

About love in hard times. About the struggle for faith in an angry world. About gardening and giving in a tough world. About investing ourselves in elections. Poetry is never about one thing.

The photograph was taken at Race Point, near the tip of Cape Cod.

Tom