Hope Comes with Empty Pockets to Share the Wealth

Dressed up as a sure thing, hope sneaks in like early-morning sun through the curtains and like an inside tip on a fixed race, this hope promises to beat the rest and rushes me downstairs down the street to place the bet; the rags-to-riches we've all waited for,

past the store windows I am a blurrr, for a moment the winning horse...

like the roar of the crowd later, when the wrong horse finishes first, this hope is suddenly cold,


 * and like the midnight train
 * derailed
 * high on an overpass,
 * this hope is a celebration
 * of lights, sparks
 * and explosion;
 * a good show
 * that doesn't last,


 * now
 * ripples on the water;
 * hope's promise,
 * a bright reflection
 * that was.