it's always both in poetry

hope without doubt is madness
doubt without hope is death
but if you've got both
and if you've got breath
then may hope be your sword
and doubt be your shield

now is the new future
listen to me
now is the new future
thirty-five is the
new thirty-five
whatever the hell you are now
you are what you are
and you are alive
no matter how fucked up
or how far afield
may hope be your sword
and doubt be your shield

thomas edison was close
in his famous quotation
but genius is
one-percent inspiration
and ninety-nine percent
desperation
and that's how it's always been
so you cannot just yield
with hope as your sword
and doubt as your shield

positive thinking
is the very last refuge of scoundrels
and I am a scoundrel
and I am a mongrel
and there are nights I just howl
at the sliver of the moon
and so I too say
something good is gonna happen soon
something good is gonna happen soon
something good is gonna happen soon
no matter how shitty
the present happens to feel
with hope as your sword
and doubt as your shield