Courage Does Not Always Roar

When life gets you down and the problems you face
are certainly more than your share.
When you run out of strength and you want to give up
because it's just too much to bear.

I want to remind you, my precious friend,
that you have what it takes inside,
extraordinary courage that may not ROAR
but it doesn't cower and hide.

It's the quiet voice inside you that says,
"Tomorrow I'll try again."
It's the courage to keep on going
to see things through to the end.

You are not defined by this moment in time.
You are not what has happened to you.
It's the way that you choose to respond that matters
and what you decide to do.

Courage is not the absence of fear,
but a powerful choice we make.
It's the choice to move forward with a PURPOSE and joy,
regardless of what it takes.

It's the courage that's found in ordinary women
who are HEROES in their own way
exhibiting strength and fortitude
in life's challenges every day.

Valiant women of exceptional courage
with enduring power to cope
taking each problem one day at a time
and never giving up HOPE.

These brave-hearted women have great resilience
and they lift each other as well
bonded by a common understanding
each with a story to tell.

- Paula Fox

Notes:

• Caps as found in my source. Other sources have variant capitalizations.
• sometimes attributed to Bobi Seredich because she made a movie of the poem
• return to poem C
• return to poems

The Touch of the Master's Hand

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks?" he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?

Three dollars, once; three dollars twice;
Going for three" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth." Swift came the reply:
"The touch of a master's hand."

- Myra Brooks Welch

alternate phrasing - not better but different
bio, background and another version
bio, background and a kitschy presentation
sketchy background and yakp
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poem High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth ¹
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; ²
Sunward I've climbed ³, and joined the tumbling mirth ⁴
Of sun-split clouds ⁵ - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of ⁶ - wheeled and soared and swung ⁷
High in the sunlit silence ⁸. Hov'ring there ⁹
I've chased the shouting wind along ¹⁰, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. ¹¹
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue, ¹²
I've topped the windswept heights ¹³ with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew - ¹⁴
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space, ¹⁵
Put out my hand and touched the face of God. ¹⁶
- John Gillespie Magee Jr

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Supplemental

1. Pilots must ensure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before aircraft taxi or flight is attempted.
   
2. During periods of sky-dancing, crew and passengers must keep seatbelts/shoulder-harnesses secured.
   
3. Sunward climbs must not be attempted above the aircraft service-ceiling.
   
4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth.
   
5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under visual conditions must comply with applicable minimum clearances.
   
6. These hundred things must not be performed in front of FAA inspectors.
   
7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging should not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility-class weight limits.
   
8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a stall is imminent or engine malfunction has occurred.
   
9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a stall has occurred.
   
10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local weather station. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported.
    
11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.
    
12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, an Irregularity Report is required upon flight termination.
    
13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain minimum visual separation.
    
14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles must be reported to the FAA and the appropriate maintenance facility.
    
15. Aircraft operating in the high untrespassed sanctity of space must maintain radio communications regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility.
    
16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God will result in loss of cabin pressure.

Kiss The Flag

It was a big holiday and I had volunteered
to help the local school kids when the time was near
for the afternoon speeches on the city park lawn –
I was setting up chairs for the folks to sit on.

There was a platform up front and some bleachers in the back,
with folding chairs in the middle and a little snack shack
set up by the bleachers with hot dogs and pop,
and a sign that said, "Little League Dogs" on the top.

Across the back of the platform, about twenty feet wide,
Were thirteen U.S. Flags, lined up side by side –
Twenty feet straight across full of red, white and blue,
A solid rainbow of colors with the stars shooting through.

I just grinned at those flags in the bright summer sun
and felt the pride in my heart for the things we had done
in the name of our country and the things we hold dear,
and then I noticed a man climb the steps and walk near
to the flags – he reached out and took hold of the stripes,
and felt the cloth in his hand, and kissed the red, and the white.

He walked the twenty feet in silence and never saw that I was there.
I watched him touch a couple more, and he seemed to say a prayer.
Then he walked on down the other side and disappeared from view
and never said a word to me, but all too clear, I knew –

Kiss the flag for a fallen hero, touch the flag and remember a Vet.
Feel the spirit of those souls who gave their all to pay our debt.
Freedom isn’t free you know, folks say that all the time,
but it’s good to stop and think about the facts behind that rhyme.

Someone has to pay the price, ‘cause it really isn’t free.
The rights to say the things you think, and to be what you can be
were purchased with the sacrifices made for you and me.
Now you and I must pay the price to keep this nation free.

We pay it with respect for those brave troops who go to war,
and with vigilance, against the fears that spread within our shores –
the fear to rock the comfort boat, and of those who rationalize
that we don’t need to stand and fight – we all can compromise.

There is no way to compromise the payments on that debt.
Kiss the flag for a fallen hero, touch the flag to thank a vet.
Then stand and join together, keeping always in your heart
the spirit of those souls gone by, so you can do your part.

- Duke Naughton

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poems

Courage Does Not Always Roar

High Flight

In Flanders Fields

Kiss The Flag

Taps

The Touch of the Master's Hand

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poem Taps

Major General Daniel Butterfield version 1 . 2 . 3 . 4

No source for this verse can be found other than its use during a commitment ceremony 2011Feb5

Go to sleep
Peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor
God keep
On the land
or the deep
Safe in sleep.

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