The Defender

 

 

 

Beneath the illusions is your own reality.  Your heart feels the warmth of reality and your shield is the mind that sees clearly.  You are a sacred warrior.  You have risen in anger, in sadness, in injustice and inb oppression.  You are sensitized to life.    You are vigilant for enemies on the rise.  You are one who fights with love and compassion.  You find humor, today, to fight off the seriousness.  Stay strong, stand your ground. 

We May Be Brave

it is December and we must be brave

as we have ever been

bearing wind   rain    fire    flood   pandemic

and particular life we are battered and battened too

 

oh      we must be brave     stand against such abuse

refuse to bend in false courage    but brave nonetheless

 

wind pries at eaves     pushing at landlocked waves

or anything above ground in order to erase

structures we thought could stand in spite of

great hands of gods more dangerous than one

 

oh      we must be brave     stand against such abuse

root ourselves in false courage    but brave nonetheless

 

sheets of rain poured from great colander of sky

whips gray cotton clouds skittering out of way

of shrug-shouldered mountains

that scowl at this new stir and loose of features

weeping rock and mud and loose run-offs

that scrub new chiseled cheek arroyos

 

oh      we must be brave     shelter in place

damn ourselves up in false courage    but brave nonetheless

 

invisible dragons breathe heavy flames

to turn great old forests into paper ash

dancing violently in aerial dioramas

great pirouettes of fire

spinning mercilessly to lands below

oh      we must be brave     guard against such abuse

armor ourselves in false courage    but brave nonetheless

 

water slaps itself in great sheets

against faces of our future that      sodden

molds and folds upon itself

as if to wash away evidence that we were here at all

a muddy future left un-scribed     a new leaf

 

oh      we must be brave     sop up such abuse

sail     if we must     in false courage    but brave nonetheless

 

our sisters     yellow     red     black     white

wrap their shawls around them

like witchy old women in hidden cottages

roiling and boiling their meagre spells

to try to deflect oncoming disasters

like scroll like digital plagues recorded

on plastic papyrus slates

 

oh      we must be brave    masked heroes against such abuse

our courage may be false    but brave nonetheless

 

©Carol Desjarlais 12.1.21