Courage Needs A New Synonym
My Dad is falling.
My boyfriend’s Mom is dying.
Our friend just had a stroke.
I walk to meet a friend for lunch.
Every day, we’re acting in the face of uncertainty.
Picking ourselves up after falling down.
Metaphorically, until literally.
Knowing full well that one day we’ll have run out
Of our Get Out Of Jail Free cards.
And will take that final stumble
From which we will not re-stand.
And what resiliency has our species!
For in spite of our dwindling card decks,
We manage to add lemons to our grocery baskets.
To think in the wondrous short-term.
To laugh at jokes.
To remark at the world falling apart.
To discuss brain supplements over sushi.
To smile into life in the face of
Our shared knowledge of the inevitable.
Google defines Courage as
“The ability to do something that frightens one”.
Its long list of synonyms is then missing,
In my opinion,
The one that most applies:
The state of being alive.
I made this piece, The Rodrigo Box,
Some time ago for a dear friend
Who was gathering the courage
To be free with himself
In the face of family judgment.
I’m drawn to it today
As I contemplate losing the cherished.
Because I am able to still stand.
Both up and for.
And this is no day to take that for granted.
But I also see that my definition of courage
Has expanded.
For I bet that even when I feel not courageous,
Even in my most despairing moments
Curled over sinks
Or mind wrecked down escalators
After bad news,
There is some track deep inside me
Built of that impossible, ceaseless courage
That simply being alive
Makes play.
For there is no pause option
On this machine of ours.
We get to either say Yes or No
To each passing day.
Which one are you saying today?
? 2018. Sherry Mills, Inc.
