Hope Springs Eternal

He was doing all that he could.

(I wote this after seeing an older man laboriously carrying water in a bucket and watering his small corn plants one-by-one.  The field was large and the task seemed to me to be hopeless.  But he was doing all that he had at his disposal to save his crop from drought.)

 

Hope Springs Eternal

 

By Elton Camp

 

There is something about this man to inspire

That he is doing what he can is much to admire

He diligently turned and planted corn in his field

With the hope that a bountiful crop it would yield

 

He fertilized and carefully kept the weeds away

As he cultivated his precious corn day by day

The seeds soon sprouted and the plants grew

But the needed rains proved to be far too few

 

And though the prospects indeed look very bleak

Buckets of water he wearily totes from the creek

It may seem useless, but it’s all he knows to do

But it’s a task so large he may never get through

 

He pours water to this one, the next, then more

As the farmer does his seemingly endless chore

Back and forth to the creek he goes to fill his pail

With the hope that better weather will soon prevail

 

It would be easy to give up and angrily curse his fate

To surrender all of his future to total despair and hate

But to do a thing like that is not this good man’s way

He chooses to continue to fight, work and often pray