HOPE - OF COURSE!

When I was a kid 

my mom loved to read aloud 

the Greek myths.

Her favorite was the one about how Zeus punished humans

 for having accepted the gift of fire from Prometheus 

by giving Pandora (a most beautiful woman) 

a box he told her not to open (but knew she would). 

All the miseries of the world

were unleashed from that box as Pandora opened it...

BUT, 

at the bottom of the box, was 

hope! 

My mom used to say, "there is always hope".

There is a great short telling of the myth here:

http://www.greekboston.com/culture/mythology/pandoras-box

 Of course, 

when looking for another poem to memorize 

during radiation, 

I was drawn to Emily Dickinson's beautifully crafted words.

Hope Is the Thing With Feathers
Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words 

and never stops at all

And sweetest in the gale is heard

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest sea

Yet, never, in extremity

It asked a crumb of me.

Of course,
when looking for another quilt to make
(living joyfully)
I was drawn to a big jar of 
HOPE!