Poem – Courage Is A Fire

History speaks to the bravery of the bold.
Those who stood up and refused what they were told.

We look out on a day that historians will ponder.
And they will see what the masses were willing to squander.

I tarry not on the verbal aberrations of the self-proclaimed.
I listen not to the emotional expressions of those they inflamed.

Those that have made the greatest impacts throughout time.
Were spit upon, ridiculed, and intentionally begrimed.

I look to those who make an example of their life.
I care not for the souls who tear others down and cause strife.

Those that follow blindly have never been in the arenas of war.
They have not fought to the death for an oath that they swore.

I have spent lifetimes trying again and again.
To break the hold of mankind’s hateful chains.

My face has been bloodied, and my scars still show the path.
Of the torture that others inflicted when I incurred their wrath.

Truth exists whether anyone believes it or not.
Devotion to the truth is not something that can be bought.

To live by the truth in a world gone mad.
Is the path I have taken as a spiritual nomad.

I have failed greatly, but in the end I did not lose.
I have learned to speak up to those in power with a ruse.

Courage is a power that most cannot claim to be.
They would rather live and instead bend a knee.

But courage is a fire that continues on after one dies.
It takes off another veil and allows one to see more lies.

And while my light continues to burn hot and bright.
I feel sad for the souls caught in their own cold and dark night.
~Suzanne Wagner~