Courage

 
It wasn’t against the stone
or with the morning
that it rose.
 
It wasn’t in the night
or from the breakers
that it came to me.
 
It wasn’t whistling in a nest
or hiding in the breeze.
None of that.
 
It was a dark coal
that had grown silent
and one day, came to light.
 
Why did the coal alight?
 
Perhaps from pain, because pain
climbs until it snaps —
 
Perhaps because someone listened,
and listened wholly —
 
Perhaps because a flashing spark
flew in and whispered the truth
at your neck, as sparks often do.
 
How else could courage come?
 
Courage born of love, not bravery
 
Courage: making the canal wide with love
when life would squeeze it thin.
 
Courage only as wide as love.

– Tara Mohr

photo credit: Roberta Sorge