Mountains find courage to challenge the clouds;
rivers find courage to merge with the sea.
Does thunder seem frightened to shout out loud?
Why then can I find no courage in me?

Water has never stopped short of the falls
to measure and calculate just how steep;
not once has it not found, to my recall,
the courage required to make the leap.

Though waves pound the beach with every tide
and sand cannot help being washed away,
when the tides recede and waters subside,
the surviving sands hold their ground and stay.

Planets continue to orbit the sun
with no guarantee they won't crash and burn,
and the sun goes down when each day is done
with no way to know it will ever return.

If shooting stars cannonball through the sky
with no requests for a safety net,
and balancing rocks every day defy
the pressures of gravity's grim death threat,
perhaps I can summon the courage I need
to live the life I've always longed to lead.