Even in a gleefully negative comic there is optimism although it's slightly hidden: It comes out through a comic character's sheer tenacity. He keeps going and trying to find some sort of fulfillment regardless of his perpetual failure record. That's a form of hope a form of optimism. Really hokey I know but it's true.
I've done a number of readings at poetry lounges in Vancouver and Los Angeles. I've compiled a book of poetry that's completed and two others I'm working on.