Voices & Verses

A Step of Hope

by Emma Deloff ’25

Here we go again. The alarm clawing,
screaming, breaking silent dreams.
I kick off the covers a hundred times,
wake up a hundred times, brush my teeth,
eat my breakfast if I’m lucky,
get dressed in the cold and head to school.
Tie the laces of my off-white dirty Nikes,
the rubber wrinkled because I have not been gentle,
salt and ice and mud caked to the soles, this journey
a slippery slope into what could be failure.

I rely too much on shoes. Shoes that have
led me into many successes, many joys,
and yet I still fear they will walk me
into the dark. Tied to my feet, we’ve walked
over borders, things designed to keep us inside,
and we have marched beyond what makes us
doubt. Strings still hold them together,
and the journey is not yet complete,
so why am I afraid?

Early mornings drowning in books
and words I cannot understand,
endless exams of my will — 
There were people who told me
I could not do it,
but here I stand
and adorned in gold we will be, glistening
with the pride of being able to say,
We did it beyond all doubt

and our shoes will get us there.
Tie them once again, though we fumble,
remembering the child that only just learned
what life asks of them.

To them, success is tying that first knot.
They cannot imagine you here —
but should they see you, they would see
the stars they’ve been told to reach for
and become supernovas of hope.
So tie them once again
and take a step.

A step of hope. Not a leap of faith,
because sometimes, a leap is too much.
Sometimes, it is too scary to jump,
and it’s only human to fear it so.

So a step will suffice, and as humans do,
we will adapt. Bend to the wind
that rages over our stone beaches,
and take strength from the horizon.
Choose a pace; whether it be at a run,
walk, roll, or sprint, take the step
and fight the battles. Tie them once again,
and one day, wait beyond the brink
of what we can see now. Another step,
another horizon to explore. Know
we are only approaching the first stoplight.

Exsultate, Jubilate, K. 165

Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-91)

Exsultate, jubilate,
Rejoice, resound with joy,

o vos animae beatae,
o you blessed souls, 

dulcia cantica canendo,
singing sweet songs,

cantui vestro respondendo,
In response to your singing 

psallant aethera cum me.
let the heavens sing forth with me.