In this time between shadows, here’s a new poem by Theresa Hupp, Esperanza, Spanish for “hope” and the name of the tent camp around the Chilean mine. Her bio is below.
Esperanza
Families wait and pray
as the Phoenix rises from the bowels of the earth,
thirty-three times it rises.
Technology and miracle combine
to resurrect men buried alive.
“I was with God, and I was with the devil.
They fought. And God won.”
*
A family waits and prays
in a hospital far away beside a young man’s body,
found in the gutter, brain injured beyond repair.
Technology pumps, no miracle occurs
to resurrect this life smashed short.
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord.”
*
Esperanza.
*
Theresa Hupp is an award-winning author of novels, short stories, essays and poetry, as well as an attorney, mediator and human resources consultant. Theresa is a 2010 Midwest Voices columnist for The Kansas City Star and has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and Kansas City Voices. She is a member of the Kansas City Writers Group and Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. Theresa can be reached at MTHupp@gmail.com.
janetsunderland.wordpress.com 
The photograph is stunning. Janet – is that one of yours?
No, I found it on photobucket. It is beautiful, isn’t it.
I find it interesting that reading this poem myself, instead of having it read aloud, made a deeper impact on my spirit.
Perhaps the nuances needed the mind-eye connection for me. At any rate, thank you for sharing Theresa’s genius.
I am deeply moved.
You’re very welcome. I thought it a remarkable piece, too.