This Last Kick Of Hope Must Not Miss You Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

This kick of hope that is going round
Has been announced by the wind with a
Loud howl and I swear it said only a
Fool refuses to get the kick when hope
Knocks at the door of their house for
The keys cannot be lost at such a moment
For hope knocks only once at Christmas
Time.

When hope knocks on your cellar where
All the words are hidden open the door
And go on a visit with the words for they
Are sauntering on plains you have never seen

The knock of hope is said to be loud enough
Just for you to hear and only you can tell
People how it was. Open the door and allow
In this friend who never leaves unless you
Do not say hello and stretch your hand in
A greeting for she only loves those who
Love her.

Never leave the door locked for you never
Know where and when this visitor who
Comes announced only by you will arrive
And find you so empty that even the bowls
To hold her will be on the counters upside
Down.

Allow the visitor who is warm and whose
Laughter never ends for it is with her
That the two of you can embark on journeys
That others have never been to.

This last kick of hope only comes and stays
And never leaves if you allow it to keep
Kicking you sideways on this endless walk
Where your sneakers both will get worn out
And leave the two of you walking even though
Bare footed on the snow.

Do not fall away like a leaf and leave the
Bus ride before you get to the stop where
Both of you planned you were going because
Of people who tell you, you have reached the
Destination when there are still miles to go.

Life is a mystery for it never tells us one
Person invisible is in us and waiting all the
Time to take us to the next level, but now that
You have heard it is the last kick do
Not miss this one in case it never
Happens again. No regrets will get us to
The place they tell us of called heaven.

Though colorless odorless and shapeless
She stands the most important ingredient
In this mix for I have heard those who
Will miss her last kick will only have
Themselves to blame says the queen of life
Called fate.

I do not care if this kick is so hard it
Leaves me maimed as long as it leaves me
Talking to others that it has happened and the
Evidence is one sunken dimple on my chick
And not a cavity in my tooth that pains me
For I will have an argument to keep me going
with all those who ask what happened to me.