Courage, Its Face, Its Sounds

What does it look like
        How does it sound;
Its smell is like what,
        It comes when and how?

To speak a word of truth

        To utter kindness or generosity;
To shout a word into the wind of the times
        To whisper against the roar of complacency.

To offer resistance when the clamor
        Is for the same well worn path;
To listen to the quiet cries of the shattered
        Above the shouts of the angry mob.

 To write words that will be

        Misconstrued or misunderstood;
To seek when you cannot find
        And to find when you do not seek.

To pray words when you do not see

        The face of God;
To lay open all of yourself for no one to hear
        And to believe maybe, just maybe.

To offer a hand to the one who has lost the way

        Or to the one blinded by the hatred or hurt of the past;
To touch those deemed infectious by the wise of the day
        To guard the perimeter in bitter cold of winter in a war you did not start.

To stand when all sit,

To sit when all stand;
To pray when all chatter,
To kneel and pray when all others sing.

Courage what does it look like,

        Courage, how does it sound;
The smell of courage is like what,
        Courage comes when and how?