--- a true gift, several months back, from my beautiful,
extraordinarily talented, kind & loving sister.
Since I'm not feeling particularly brave right now, I thought it was apt ---

You don't have to be brave

But bravery is not something chosen. It's a label given you, never self-captioned
and moreover it often grows out of accident: the soldier who ran forward
for lack of imagination, the bank teller who got a robber-punch arm cramp,
the child who told the truth because she had not yet learned stories.

She grew up a little odd, but wonderful.
The teller, inspired, became a karate champion.
The soldier fell in love with a nurse and died dancing at ninety.

This is how bravery sounds: a voice singing scales, higher, higher
to the breaking point, pause -- then one note further,
because this is what we do, this is how life moves.
The applause is far away, the music close enough to touch.