a poem I wrote today...

Don’t think I am brave,

For I am loved.

Whisperings of praise and support have filled my ears for years.

And I am cherished.

The wind itself tells tales of my treasured place in the hearts of hundreds.

 

Don’t think I am brave,

For I am heard.

Many loving hands do wait to catch the words that leave my lips.

And I am respected.

My ideas land like seeds to be tended by many gardeners.

 

Imagine me unloved,

Then decide if I am brave.

I am like a child with a hundred parents.

Would I so freely cross the street without a hand to hold?

 

Imagine me uncherished,

Then decide if I am brave.

I am like a book, carefully read a hundred times.

Would I think myself so important if I lay discarded in the gutter?

 

Imagine me unheard,

Then decide if I am brave.

I am like a storyteller with a hundred listeners.

Would I bother to speak at all if every ear was closed?

 

Imagine me disrespected,

Then decide if I am brave.

I am like a medicine-man among a hundred villagers.

Would I even attempt to heal if every person laughed at my aid?

 

Don’t think I am brave.

For I swim in pools of your love, adoration, attention, and respect.

But who would I be in the desert?

 

I know not what I am without you.