Rotary Club Community Poems

Posted byContent EditorPosted inNews

Like Hope

Burlingame & Redwood Shores Rotarians’ Community Poem

Contributors: Fritz Brauner, Michael Brownrigg, John Delaney, Joseph DiMaio, Cheryl A. Fama, Mike Heffernan, Michael Kimball, Jennifer Pence, Jim Shypertt, and Sheryl Young. Compiled April & May 2022.

Sunflowers are growing somewhere,

Like hope, like summer’s children.

More than ever, we need a little poetry in our lives,

hope for a future that is kinder, and a world where 

there is respect for science, 

respect for nature, 

respect for each other.

I hope we let history open our eyes and hearts, 

not close our minds and spirits to be better.

I hope for the status of poets during the ancient days of Persia. 

Also, the Greeks.

I hope to have a renewed appreciation for poetry.

I hope that someday everyone in the world will have access 

to the same resources.

I hope for a world where everyone reaches their full potential. 

I hope the adverbs don’t stay out late and miss their chance 

to shampoo the Mugwump.

I hope that we can elect honest politicians that act like true patriots.

I hope that we can remember to treat each other 

the way we would like to be treated.

I hope that all of us Rotarians might behave the Rotary 4-Way Test, 

ever true and fair, good-willed, beneficial.

I hope that one day soon the people of Ukraine 

will again live in peace and freedom.

I was told sunflowers are growing somewhere.

More than ever, we need this poetry in our lives.

These Hopeful Days

Menlo Park Rotary Scholars’ Community Poem

Compiled following the Rotary Club of Menlo Park’s 37th Annual Scholastic Achievement Awards on May 23, 2022

I hold on

to what springs eternal,

like a thing with feathers

perching on a twig,

on the lookout

for an audacity of red-

hued daylilies.

I hope for my furry friend

to get better.

I hope to help my family

who hopes to give back

to my community

who hopes to live freely.

I hope to reach my goals

to never give up

to have a happy life.

I hope people can have

inner peace

so we can be happy

so we can learn to treat

each other with kindness

so we can save

and protect our planet

so we can live

and hope together.

Days like this

bring you back,

like a thing with feathers,

perching, more wondrous.