the word hope

the word hope

Lou Ella Hickman

is a hard word
a four-letter word
a profanity for far too many
hard as a stone a rock
or
perhaps a pebble in the shoe
even sand the smallest of stones
and like salt the grit of life
it polishes or erodes
yet a pebble a stone a rock
when tossed
breathes out rings of water
sinking into the depth
meeting the ground of what is

---

Sister Lou Ella Hickman, OVISS
Poet & Spiritual Director

Sister Lou Ella is a widely published poet. She published her first book of poetry in 2015 entitled she: robed and wordless. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. 

Photograph by Daniela Yildrim