That We Be Proven Fools

We learn and we hope that
what we've learned is wrong.
We never stop learning while
we also never learn. We never
stop hoping for our own
grave mistakes. We want this:
our lovers have all, in fact,
been true, our dreams are,
in reality, realized more
every day, our destinies are,
in truth, grand and noble and
proud. Most days we sense that
those are only hopes; we are
well aware where our fates
have left us. We hope that
people are decent and they
rarely are; we hope that
good will prevail and it
rarely does; we hope that
reason and compassion will
rule all days and they only
rarely do. We hope against
hope we will conquer ourselves
and finally become the righteous
people we've always thought
we could one day be. We learn
and we can only hope that we
are mistaken. We rise and face
each day praying we will
be proven fools once and for all.

(2008)