Gevena (Hope) · Voices on the Inside: A Poetic Justice Self-Portrait Poetry and Photography Exhibit

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Gevena (Hope)

Item

Geneva (Hope).jpg

Title

Description

If You Ask Me,

You can ask me how it feels to lose
my children,
my freedom,
over a decade of life.

But I won’t have the right answers,
because the words for these things
are rocks tossed into the abyss.

You can ask me how it feels to count
the days,
the friends who leave me behind,
the promises I’ve heard and made,
all forgotten,
one by one by one.

My answer will stick in my throat.
It will sound like ticking,
a clock’s continuous unwinding,
pressing through the untenable moments,
one by one by one.

If you ask me about my past,
my answers will come in shades of dark.
They will drip from my chin.
They will splash you with despair.
But if you ask me —
if you ask me —

Ask me about tomorrow.
Ask me about the future.

My answer will sound like a song.
It will sound like day breaking,
a song colored deep Mediterranean blue,
a song that smells like a sun-drenched
forest.

A song that takes a breath,
and in that breath stars are born.

Dreams take form,
prayers bend like rainbows
around the circumference
of a world called hop

Creator

Written by Geneva P., 2026

Format

Self-Portrait Poem & Photograph

Collection

Citation

Written by Geneva P., 2026, “Gevena (Hope),” Voices on the Inside: A Poetic Justice Self-Portrait Poetry and Photography Exhibit, accessed September 29, 2026, https://library.csusm.edu/context-library-series/voicesontheinside/document/381.

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