Four Hopes: Four Poems / Four Stanzas / Four Lines

1.

In front of Seven Eleven

the black man waves to a cop

and the cop returns the hello

with a look of soft serve.

2.

Can we aspire to be gods,

feeling greater than we are,

relevant to existence and

approval of that final nod?

3.

Giving up is the beginning

of hope, as one relief is itself

a bas-relief for an image of

myself coming to fruition.

4.

I skipped over rainwater and

overturned wheelbarrow and

when I tripped, I saw the world

upright in my new perspective.