Courage
Courage surrounds her children
With sharp railed chairs
Rowdy friends and wasps
Conceding the wisdom of pain
She knows the world
Which her children must meet
Its deep rushing water
And sweet-tongued strangers
And cabinets lined with poison
Courage hopes children see clearly
Between fear and danger
She allows her charges
Conversation with fanatics
The writings of heretics
And knowledge of many gods
With their many different histories
Of savagery
She aches
When her children discover
That not all facts are truth
And not all truths can be known
And Courage stands by
As her children learn the only skill
That can ever, really, be learned
The individual and perfect art
Of survival
Where deep water holds less dread
For one who understands its current
Rae Spencer 