Hope was declared dead today
or so the headlines read,
and I read those headlines
in spite of myself for if
hope was dead, why read further

for reading further
would infer hope was alive,
and if hope was alive, the
headlines are wrong, but
if the headlines are wrong,
why would I read further

for venturing down the further
path, futile in inference, would
be an exercise without hope.

Photo by Elijah O’Donell on Unsplash