The Mad Poet of the Year blog posts share the poetry of a long-time Mad Poet. This year-long appointment provides readers with a deep dive of the writer’s work and thoughts on poetry. We are thrilled to have Tonita Austin (aka Toni Love) serve as the Mad Poet of the Year for 2023.
Hope
(written on the National Day of Hope, 4/6/22)
by Tonita Austin aka Toni Love
Hope is the last tear that you cry before you get up off your knees and wipe your face.
Hope opens your eyes to the possibilities of joy after sorrow
Hope is that unexpected voice in your ear overpowering the cocktail of despair and pain that beckonedyou to dance toe to toe with the edge of the bridge
Hope is the grain of belief that pulls you back to consciousness.
Hope is the sweet breath filling a newborn’s lungs the moment it is separated from the womb
Hope sustains life
Hope is powerful
Hope is love
Hope is the sweet memory that lifts you up out of the depths of depression
Hope moves your exhausted mind and body out into the day even when you don't know where your next shower where your next meal is coming from.
Hope surrounds families tucked inside bunkers unaware of what will come for them in the next day
Hope keeps fathers /hope keeps mothers /hope keeps children /hope keeps families/ hope keeps communities/
Hope keeps the person in that jail cell wrongly accused, writing letters instead of ending their own livesout of desperation.
Hope is the whisper from God that says there's a reason to go on just one more day.
May we all cultivate it
May we all grasp for it in the midnight hour
May we all maintain the awareness that it is within our reach at any moment
May we be all quiet enough to listen for that whisper of Hope
I chose this poem because the month of December is a time when people are celebrating in various ways and honoring different religious and cultural beliefs but all are connected by hope.
Tonita Austin also known as “Toni Love” is a gifted poet, singer, activist, and writer born in West Philadelphia. While attending Columbia University, Tonita was a student of Amiri Baraka and performed in Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls” as the Lady in Orange. Her writing is influenced by both experiences. She is a contributor to the anthology The Black Body and featured poet in the 2018 and 2020 Winter/Fall edition of the Philadelphia Arts and Urban Literary magazine. The Restoration EP is her first published recording; Toni’s Room is her first published book. Toni currently resides in Media, PA. For more info, visit www.tonitalove.com and https://tonilove.hearnow.com/.