Courage

Step up
Don't look down
Hold your gaze
For you hold the crown
It's time to prove yourself
Time to show your worth
You've been waiting for this moment
Straight since birth

But now your knees are shaking
Now you feel lightheaded
But something keeps you standing
Determination in you is embedded
You take a step
Even though you're scared to death
You clench your fists to stop them shaking
And take a deep breath

You can do this
You know it to be true
You can fight your fear
And pull through
Your knuckles turn white
Your hearts beating at your chest
But on you stand
And try your best

What courage lies inside you?
What courage have we all?
Even when scared to death
We try our hardest not to fall
Fear can grip our hearts
And freeze us to the spot
But we can continue
To give it our best shot

Sometimes we won't succeed
Sometimes we'll fall down
Sometimes it's hard to get back up
Sometimes we need someone else to hold the crown
Sometimes panic wins
Sometimes it attacks
Sometimes we're too scared
To face all of the facts

But life continues on
And then we soon follow
We all end up facing down the truth
No matter how hard it is to swallow
And that's courage right there
Pushing through day by day
It takes courage to hold on
And courage to allow the loose ends to fray

How amazing is the human race?
Just how grand?
Because through all of life's trials
We continue to stand

Come What May

And will you still love me come summer time?
When spring has left, taking its beauty and rhyme
I need to know that through it all you'll stay
I need to know that you won't go away
When the hot days come and the season of love ends
Will you stay or will we have to part as friends?

And will you still love me come autumn day?
When clouds cover the sun and the leaves fall away
I need to know that for me you'll fight
I need to know everything will turn out all right
When the long days of summer have taken our leisurely hours and run
Will you stay with me?  Can we be one?

And will you still love me come the cold winter hours?
When the ground is covered and no longer flowers
Will you always love me, come what may?
Do you promise never to leave me?  Will you always stay?
When the beauty of autumn is covered in snow
Will you promise me or will you have to go?

And will you still love me come next spring?
When the cold has gone and flowers are king
I need you to promise you'll always be true
I need to be able to rely on you
When beautiful birds whistle the day away
Will you still love me?  Will you still stay?

A Penny's Worth Of Thoughts

Trade a dollar for a rose
And for a penny give a petal
The petal will wilt away
And leave you with nothing but metal
The dollar will tear
The rose will die
And the tears that wet your pillow
Will all someday dry

Right now the rose is vibrant with life
You can't imagine it wilting away
The dollar's so self righteous right now
But the penny's the only one who's likely to stay
Right now you want beauty so much
And you want to be thought strong
You want everyone to know your worth
And never tell you you're wrong

But in the end
When all of the beauty's withered away
When the self righteousness has run out
And the penny's the only thing to stay
You'll realize the penny's worth
The small but firm memories
The little everyday smiles
A soft gentle breeze

The people who could make you laugh
Before your tears could even dry
And even though you often made mistakes
Even though you sometimes had to cry
You know it all was worth it
And through it all you thrived
In the end you know you won
All because, like the penny, you survived

From - Your Little Soldier Boy (#1)

Dear Mother,
     I am grateful to be able to say
That after everything I've managed to stay okay
     I long for home, but at least I'm alive to long for it
Others are not as fortunate
     There's death in the very air I breathe, mother
At every days end I believe it impossible for me to last another
     Even if my body survives this war
death has settled at my very core
     It plagues my nightmares and haunts me during the day
And here I am saying that I'm still okay...

     I'm not okay, mother, I'm sorry, but I'm not
I want to be strong, but half the time I'm wishing to be shot
     I know I'm supposed to stay brave, and I'm trying so hard
But I feel as if I've played my last card
     I've run out of cards, run out of choices
I'm stuck listening to people who talk just to hear their own voices
     The courage in my heart has run out
I'm plagued with so much doubt...

     I don't know why I'm here anymore
It's all so pointless, this war
     But this isn't what you want to hear, is it?
You want to hear of my strength, not my wanting to forfeit
     So I suppose I'll just crinkle this letter up and start anew
The only similarities between this letter and the next the forever true
              signing off words of I love you

Alas

"I command you now;
Open this gate!"
Sorry, sir knight
But you're a little too late
The gate-man is gone
And the drawbridge is up
Nothing stirs
Not even a cup
Thorns cover the walls
And everything in sight
The king is fast asleep
Unable to fight
For we were cursed by a fairy
An evil one at that
And now the whole kingdom slumbers
Even the Queen's cat
The princess poked her finger
And now we must sleep for a hundred years
Or until true love's kiss comes
To wash away our tears

But the princess is so young
True love to her is just a dream
It's magic and romance
And stolen kisses beneath a moon beam
She thinks its late night balls
With princes and knights
She does not know of sacrifice
Or working through fights
She's been so busy running
And rushing around
Too busy trying to do everything
Too busy trying to get her feet off of the ground
She knew she'd prick her finger
Knew she'd have to sleep for many years
And so she tried to do everything before that could happen
Tried to master all her fears
Tried to have many adventures
And solve many a crime
But she did not try to find true love
For she figured it a waste of time

How could it be true love?
You've never even met her, sir knight
But still you'll climb the thorns
And with the evil fairy fight
You'll rush to her bedside
Thinking that after all you've done your love for her must be deep
You'll kiss her tenderly, but, alas, sir knight
Still we all shall sleep