Her bravery broke something in me.
It gave her such a flimsy shield.
We both could feel the fear
push up beneath her armor.
She caught her face
each time it almost fell
and firmly rearranged it;
cut off her voice at
any threat of wavering.
And when she told me
for the fourth time
that she fully put
her trust in God,
I saw her folded hands
go white with clenching.
Her declarations of abiding
faith could only build
a wall of air around her
body's screaming contradiction.
Her bravery broke something in me
and still, we clung to it.
-- Deb Cooper