grit to persevere; invictus inspired

 

you made us recite it

again and again

we practiced and presented

you clipped short all complaints

 

stand straight; backbone up

speak loud; voice crisp

in obedience

to instructions

we learned to tame our lisps

 

look front and center; eyes

making fierce contact

on stage a young girl

made an audience pact

 

fix your feet; hold their shuffle

mean what you say; use

tear ducts and heart muscle

nervous ticks and growing warts

confidence is earned; not

bought off a shelf

 

face it; confront the worst

don’t dribble your words; let

them out of your pores

like a furious cloudburst

 

the applause you want to hear

will stay drowned; if you

choose not to confront your fears

 

stimulate strength; let Invictus

into your bones; let the

echo permeate your skin

through the fingers that

hold the microphone

 

today; I say to you, my dad

stay unbowed, and teach me again

how you captured grief; using faith

when you could use blame

stand upbeat, and teach me again

always one to pick the higher stance; never did

you let vanity sustain

 

indomitable, a master of your fate

every mile, a captain of your soul

 

you taught me much; you let me dare

most of all you did not listen to can’t

and trained me towards the grit to persevere