like an explorer
facing solid
cold &
invisible hunger,
or a general leading
a full-blooded
battalion ac
cross impenetrable
mudfields of
chest-ravishing
shrapnel.
brave & true.
brave & true.
scaling impossible
peaks of pain
impaled on
spikes of
fear.
brave & true.
brave & true.
when all that
does not matter
has died & all
deceit has
boiled
away
we find the
iron mountain of
nobility
the brave gestures of
self-control &
grace.
the quiet acceptance
that swallows
death
alive.
the confident
surrender that
captures
infinity.