My Song of Myself

For the New Year, 1981

I have a small grain of hope— 

one small crystal that gleams 

clear colors out of transparency. 

I need more. 

I break off a fragment 

to send you. 

Please take 

this grain of a grain of hope 

so that mine won’t shrink. 

Please share your fragment 

so that yours will grow. 

Only so, by division, 

will hope increase, 

like a clump of irises, which will cease to flower

unless you distribute 

the clustered roots, unlikely source—

clumsy and earth-covered— 

of grace.

–DENISE LEVERTOV 

Every year, I revisit this lovely poem by Denise Levertov and discuss it with my students. The poem, written in 1981, seems particularly needed in 2026. Not that we humans couldn’t always benefit from a little hope, but the world, politics, and the economy over this last year have brought me to disbelief and discouragement on many occasions. As I doomscroll my social media, I have often felt like either lashing out in anger or throwing up my arms in despair.

I was also reminded of the fragility of life 2 days ago when, on a trip to the gym, the sight of an ambulance heading in the opposite direction caused me to pull off to the side of the road. I soon learned where that ambulance was going. After arriving at the gym, my wife called in tears to inform me that she was at the home of one of our neighbors, trying to provide comfort to the wife as EMT technicians tried to resuscitate her husband. My wife said it didn’t look like he was going to make it–tragically, he didn’t.

Like the speaker in Levertov’s poem, I have “a small grain of hope” or the even smaller “grain of a grain” for 2026. On a personal level, I am richly blessed with family, friends, and work that I love. Sure, our family has its struggles, but I have many reasons for hope. It is the hope for peace in our nation and in our world that gets me down.

Levertov’s poem is a reminder that there is strength in collective hope, collective goodness. I will try to do my part. I plan to share my fragment of hope with all those within my circle of influence. At times, I feel the need to decry the injustices in the world, and there is a time and place for that. However, the world doesn’t need any more doomsayers. I hope to spend a bit more time looking for beauty and goodness in the world. “Only so, by division, / will hope increase…”

What a lovely metaphor at the end of her poem.  Irises do not survive unless their roots are broken up and distributed. Those “clumsy, and earth-covered” roots prove, in the end, to be the source of “grace,” the beauty of a flowering iris. The people around us need our hope, our faith, and our encouragement this upcoming year. Together, let’s make it a great one.