Still Here
Nishita Wahi
Still Here is a poem that showcases hope as a form of quiet resistance through difficult experiences. The poem moves
through different stages of this idea, beginning with uncertainty and gradually building towards strength and understanding. I took inspiration from the Japanese art of Kintsugi to showcase how brokenness can make something more beautiful. I wanted the progression to mirror how hope can be difficult to recognise while we are facing
hardships, but it’s always present. Through the piece, I wanted to capture the quiet strength found in choosing to hold onto hope.
Still Here
Hope is careless.
Why believe in something that survives where it was never meant to?
Hope is reckless.
It grows between the cracks of ruined walls.
It feeds on fear,
It feeds on heartbreak.
It blooms after the fire,
While the ashes are still warm
Hope is audacious.
It refuses to bow when the world demands surrender.
Hope is a quiet strength,
It carries what we cannot,
The cracks embellished in gold,
The broken edges catch the light,
The beauty behind the scars,
Of those who put up a fight.
And perhaps that is hope,
Not the absence of darkness,
But the quiet rebelling of a heart,
That refuses to become it.