Dum Spiro Spero Poem by Thea Pound

An optimist from birth, hope has
Always lived in me. In darkness
It burns hot and bright. It snatches
My breath. Crushes my chest.
But it never releases me. Not while I live.
I beg for numbness; let me be faithless;
But it never gives up. Forever it calls.
No matter how I try to surrender,
No matter how bleak the future,
No matter how consuming the pain.
This fight is mine, to right the wrongs;
To do good, not just refrain from evil.
Because we can have better; If it is
Our desire; If we aspire.