Give me hunger,
O you gods that sit and give
The world its orders.
Give me hunger, pain and want,
Shut me out with shame and failure
From your doors of gold and fame,
Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger!
But leave me a little love,
A voice to speak to me in the day end,
A hand to touch me in the dark room
Breaking the long loneliness.
In the dusk of day-shapes
Blurring the sunset,
One little wandering, western star
Thrust out from the changing shores of shadow.
Let me go to the window,
Watch there the day-shapes of dusk
And wait and know the coming
Of a little love.
Leonard Durso 
Unless I’m way off base, this particular poem just about sums you up old Friend, (when you feel at your lowest). I’d love to read a poem you consider upbeat, Joyful, and bursting with Optimism. All I need is one. Good Health to you
No, Tom, it’s just a poem by a poet I have always admired and since I don’t have my Collected Sandburg or Collected Frost here in Turkey (those plus many other books are still in storage in NY), I must look for things on the internet by them. And this one was actually new to me so I posted it. I have written many humorous and though not click-your-heels happy, I have many poems of contentment with my life here. Any poems that reflect sadness or longing are the ying to my yang. None of us can be totally one way or the other and as the time draws near in these the winter of my years, one can’t help but reflect on the past. But my present is quite fulfilling, especially now that I accepted what is the best job in education I’ve had so far. If you look at the pictures on my facebook you’ll see that. Poetry, though, is my attempt to converse with those ancient Chinese poets I love so much in a language they would understand.
Thank You,
In appreciation,
Tom
Quite beautiful.
Glad you like it.
Never knew Sandburg was so deep. I hope he found that morsel of love at the end. Writers are so out of step, it is a small hope that keeps us going. He’s pleading with the gods though. So maybe not always successful.
His writing reflects the times he lived through. And he responded to it in poetry very well.
Likewise–that’s a side of Sandburg I never knew.
He was not just the poet they taught us in high school.
Thanks for this beautiful poem
Glad you like it.