68. Hero [100 poems challenge]

68.          Hero

Each morning you rise
And step into the day,
Greet warmly the cherub
Who is not the child
Of your dreams,
Whose needs—
So demanding—
Take all that you have
And are
And a little more,
And define and refine you.
Yet still you find strength
To take one step forward
And fight two steps back,
To stand firm and to give,
To care and to love,
To face today’s challenge
So soon after yesterday’s,
Knowing tomorrow
Will bring yet another.
This is courage
In the quiet
In the daunting
In the enduring
In the sacrifice of self.

29 June 2013

Comments: Just lately I have become more aware of parents of children with special needs, some close to me, some further removed. As someone who has no children I cannot fully understand the demands of a “straightforward” child, let alone the relentless ongoing challenges that come with disability or other challenges. So, I am filled with admiration for the strength of these parents, and, indeed, parents in general (no instruction manual, and so many things that can go wrong!).

I’m a little worried at the moment about the state of the challenge, because my buffer of poems is now very depleted and I am in the middle of conference season. Hmmmmmm. Stay tuned.

Themes to come: 69. Annoyance; 70. 67%; 71. Obsession; 72. Mischief Managed; 73. I Can’t

Explanation about the 100 poems challenge here.