Elegy For Folded Hope Poem by ashok jadhav

We lay to rest a hope once carefully folded,
like a letter never sent,
creased by waiting,
softened by too many rereadings of the same dream.
It was not shattered—
only tucked away,
placed gently between the pages of days
that learned how to continue without answers.
Folded hope did not scream when faith grew thin;
it learned silence,
the kind that breathes and endures,
the kind that survives disappointment.
It watched doors close without bitterness,
accepted loss without surrender,
and waited—not for certainty,
but for the courage to remain.
Time pressed its edges thinner,
yet it kept its shape,
holding meaning in restraint,
promise in pause.
Now we mourn not its death,
but its quiet transformation—
for folded hope never vanished,
it became wisdom.
And in this elegy, we understand at last:
some hopes are not meant to unfold quickly,
some are meant to be carried—
creased, patient, and faithful—
until the end teaches us