Hope Poem by Annajoy Thompson

My heart was once so open
So innocent and free
I shared it with the world
For the world enamored me

My spirit full of passion
My eyes alight with glee
My mind's biggest attraction
Was who I'd grow to be

But time showed me the truth
It wore me down to nothing
The dreams of my youth
I now know are never coming

The love I once poured out
I now hide away
Because the world manipulates
And people will betray

My heart is locked and hidden
Though it yearns to be free
But trials have left it smitten
My past berates me

Behind these wounds I dwell
Though little does it show
For I will never tell
Of the pain I've come to know

Time has taught me well
though I suffered on the way
That hardships you can quell
And a little hope goes a long way

Though these times are hard
And that may never change
I won't let my life be marred
My future's God's to arrange