Courage - Anne Sexton

[Larry Robinson]

I think you are living this one, dear sister!




"Be joyful though you have considered all the facts."
    - Wendell Berry

> On Jun 7, 2022, at 4:58 AM, Larry Robinson <Lrobpoet at sonic.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> Courage 
> 
> It is in the small things we see it.
> The child's first step,
> as awesome as an earthquake.
> The first time you rode a bike,
> wallowing up the sidewalk.
> The first spanking when your heart
> went on a journey all alone.
> When they called you crybaby
> or poor or fatty or crazy
> and made you into an alien,
> you drank their acid
> and concealed it. 
> 
> Later,
> if you faced the death of bombs and bullets
> you did not do it with a banner,
> you did it with only a hat to
> cover your heart.
> You did not fondle the weakness inside you
> though it was there.
> Your courage was a small coal
> that you kept swallowing.
> If your buddy saved you
> and died himself in so doing,
> then his courage was not courage,
> it was love; love as simple as shaving soap.
> 
> Later,
> if you have endured a great despair,
> then you did it alone,
> getting a transfusion from the fire,
> picking the scabs off your heart,
> then wringing it out like a sock.
> Next, my kinsman, you powdered your sorrow,
> you gave it a back rub
> and then you covered it with a blanket
> and after it had slept a while
> it woke to the wings of the roses
> and was transformed.
> 
> Later,
> when you face old age and its natural conclusion
> your courage will still be shown in the little ways,
> each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen,
> those you love will live in a fever of love,
> and you'll bargain with the calendar
> and at the last moment
> when death opens the back door
> you'll put on your carpet slippers
> and stride out.
> 
>    - Anne Sexton