Number 23 in 30 in 30, a series of writing challenges. Over the course of 30 days (sometimes even in a row!), I will draft a post within 30 minutes. This 30-day theme is: News Stories. Today’s writing was inspired by an article about voting in Travis County, Texas.

I want to hope
for a change in
the place where I’m from

Hope for something
that did you harm
is a fraught endeavor

How many times will
I let it break my heart?

But what if?
What if the best of it
becomes what it is
and not some aberration
outlier or exception
that proves the rule?

Can I hope for it
and for the first time
since I was knee high
to a grasshopper
feel like I am
welcomed there?

To hope to belong
to where you’re from
is a dangerous gamble.

But I hope.