Hope is the thing with feathers

february 27 journal page


I love this poem by Emily Dickinson (see the full poem below). And it inspired this sumi ink drawing in my journal. The bird shows signs of scuffles and looks a bit scraggy. I didn't intend to draw it that way. I started out with the general outline and then added patterns and markings. In the end, maybe this is how I picture Hope.

Hope is not the new born. She is older. She is the one who has been there in the dark times and continued singing despite the storm. She's weathered the twists and turns that come with being alive. She's stayed strong and vigilant. And she continues to remind us to stay courageous and keep moving forward.



“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.






Spring officially begins tomorrow and today has been a beautiful, sunny day. I wish everyone a sun-filled week.





joining Sunday Sketches

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