If Hope is the Thing with Feathers

If hope is the thing with feathers, then hope is also the thing with a beak. The thing with

claws.

Hope is the thing with hooves, too. Hope is the thing with scales, with quills, with

tortoiseshell. With hair and nails and fur.

All these are made from keratin, a protein. Hope is a thing produced by the skin of 

animals.

My cat’s whiskers: hope.

May we also go hope-clad through this world. Let’s keep ourselves warm, let’s protect

each other.

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ERICA SOON OLSEN is the author of Recapture and Other Stories. She lives in Vernal, Utah.

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