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You await your god to give you his blood
while we bleed ours onto the earth
and pour four tears
In times of drought
The blindness of being
of choosing to see only
the last green tree
In forest of falling needles
Like the mother who has two children
and after the first one dies
remains happy
Because the other lives
If I choose hope
I am off the hook
As if optimism were a fair replacement
For truth
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Gin Getz 
Your last two lines: “As if optimism were a fair replacement
For truth” are my favorite and such an actual truth. Beautiful!
Like with Karens point we need hope… I wonder which creates more positive change in this world – hope or truth? Or is the balance of the two. See, wish, and be willing to take a stand.
Hope strikes me as a form of longing and longing is so often what gets us in trouble. Neither can hope be a replacement for action. Balance is nearly always key to everything.
Hope as the soothing balm. The blanket that keeps us warm while the world around us freezing. In this view, only if it stimulates action is it much more than selfish. Is hope the call to action, or is truth? There may be a balance of the two for a true call to action.
But hope and optimism are what enable us to hold our heads up and look forward so choose them both!
Yes, Karen, you are right. But be careful. Hope can also be so soothing and selfish.