“A Spark of Hope” by Rae Brumbaugh
February 27, 2023
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.