Brave

Be brave. Stand straight.

Some shoulders have borne worse weights.

Still do. In the sighs and shrugs

Of unbroken backs but deadened minds.

Yearly the lines grow and sag.

Don’t hurt them, you say.

Don’t be selfish. Be brave.

Bravery was for the guns and grenades that shattered minds and their peace.

Bravery was for those who wrote and spoke and marched.

Pushed against odds, that are to you just ink forms printed on earmarked pages.

They’re just stories passed through ages.

Bravery is not for simpletons like you.

They say. Or you think they do.

Be brave. You say.

On days when one drop squeezes out

As opposed to the floods that have, but of late, come to a stop.

Girls don’t cry. You say.

Be brave.

Some shoulders have borne worse weights.

Don’t worry. It won’t bite.

Don’t be so scared. It’s all in your head.

Don’t be a child. Your words fall dead

On numb ears. Because it’s just one of those days

When just a bark startles a panicked craze.

When the silent noises won’t stop.

Buzzing. Screaming. Drumming.

What an oddity of a human. They say.

Wear a wall on your face.

Be brave.

Don’t be afraid to be speak. But don’t speak stupid.

You won’t find meaning in it, will you?

Don’t be afraid to be yourself. But can’t you be just a little better?

You will always invalidate me in the end.

I will never be your soldier.

I am the sheltered commoner.

No storm

Ever reaches me that you see

Except those inside me. Unseen

I sing no songs of bravery for me.

In a world where singular battles are unseen unlike the greater war

I am your weak little child

That is all you see.

Be brave

Is your only advice to me.