Today, the breeze became a little warmer,
the winds shifting - no longer bringing the icy air
from the barren landscapes above,
but a warmer air, full of life,
from the tropics below.

This is what hope feels like:

The moment you finally step out of the pain,
and into the realization that things really will be okay,
life really will go on,
and there is a still a place for you in it.

This is a beautiful realization -
a moment so important that it must never be lost.

Keep it.

Hold on to it.

Protect it within the walls of your heart; because,
one day, those winds will shift back
from the North again,
and you'll need something to hold on to.

This poem © Kevin Walker. Published February 2014.