SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

“A Spark of Hope” by Rae Brumbaugh

Through a deep night
shines a spark of hope

like a wasp without a stinger

like a blinding rip in the needles of the air

no one sees this hope

or maybe they’re just too tired to care

It flickers through the floodwater

It could light a flame

It could burn down all
of the hate
of the person who came

But no one seems to care

When its call rings through the air
maybe they think they can’t hear

Or maybe they’re just scared to know

What it’s like in the day

They wonder how they would be if the darkness never came

Through the deep night

shines a chance for change

A spark of hope

to light

a flame


Rae Brumbaugh, a fifth grader at Laurelhurst Elementary School, opened our Poetry Series event with Kate Baer on Thursday, March 2, at Rainier Arts Center by reading this original poem, written in WITS writer Samar Abulhassan’s classroom. 

Posted in CreativityStudent WritingWriters in the Schools2022/23 Season2022/23 Season