Based within –
a well,
deep and forever there.

It's about reaching in
– deeper, deeper… deeper still –
To touch ground
and know how far you came.

While you swim
you’re getting by on hope.
That certain kind of hope,

                  that Obama¹ kind of hope

that inspired wise men to
reach for happiness
(– when in real life there were slaves.)

That kind of hope
– and only that kind  of hope² –
which is an absolute.
Endless,
because it determines
how far you need to reach.

That hope is what makes
a black man president.
That hope makes me
believe in confidence.
Forever to trust myself,
to be able to build:
my future,
and how I want it to be.

What is and what I want there to be,
easily – it will be dismissed
dissected
and rejected.
Symbol of fear –
an eternal struggle between
the world as it is
and as it should be.