Bravery----

I see several people have been looking for a poem I posted up here some time back.  So, here is a repost of  "Bravery" for those of you who've been looking for it.  This is a poem from the latter half of The Questioning Way

Bravery

When I walked into the bar

Two kids were calling him out

One had a broken bottle, the other had a short club

Steiger was not a big man, and he was unarmed

But good lord, he had a look about him!

A chill went through the room and he stood to face them

Steiger squared up and said

“Before you start

With whatever problem it is you have with me

I'll tell you this--- I don't care

What kind storm you think you are,

I guarantee that you have never seen the like

Of a few of the storms I have been through.

Now, you do what you think you want to do

I just thought you ought to know.”

Steiger waited

The kids stared back at him

I don't think they knew exactly what to do

Finally, one of them pulled his friends shirt

He said, “Shit Jeff! Come on let's go!”

Ole Jeff dropped his bottle and walked out of there

I guess he realized

He'd bit off a little more than he could chew

Steiger sat back down

And I shimmied up beside him

I said “I'm pleased to meet you

I think that's the bravest thing I can recall seeing

Steiger took a drink and smiled

'Said “Hell son, that wasn't brave

That was just solid sense.

Now brave? I've seen brave a time or two”

Brave is jumping back over the wall

To save a good man down

As the bullets come flying back at you

Brave is being alone on your bike

And trying that corner at seventy

When there's gravel, the sign says twenty-five tops

And you know what's gonna happen

If the ground takes a swipe at you

Now, that's the kind of bravery that faces death

But braver still, I think

Is the kind that faces life, son

Brave is being a single mother alone in the big city

You come home every day to two little ones who are hungry

And you know the only thing

Between them and some serious hurt

Is you and your shitty job

Down at the 7-11

There is a kind of bravery

That hopes beyond all hope

And still tries to get things done

When just about everything in life has fallen apart

All the chips are down

And all you've got is a pair of three's on the table

There is a kind of bravery that has a dream

And still keeps crawling on

When you're only half-way done

As all the bills keep coming due

And for all the world it still appears

That you don't have a ghost's chance in hell

Of ever seeing it all the way through

Then there's the kind

That loves deeply and loses

But dares to try and love again

And the kind that loves easy

And dares try to find room in their heart

For everyone

If you face death and lose

Well, you'll be dead and gone

And nothing much will matter to you

But if you face life and lose

Then you have to live

With what has happened to you

Dewey Dirks copyright 2008