Bravery Is Your Companion

from Out With Lanterns

I pray 
to to the grandmother
I never met, who died 
before I arrived.
My father’s mother,
with me in spirit 
since birth. 
Of this I am certain. 
I call to her when lost,
when doubt grabs my neck, 
when fear steals breath. 
She answers with 
barely a wisp of sound,
says: Do the thing.
Plunge with abandon.
Bravery is your companion
in this short, short time. 
Do not fear. Go. 

My Grandmother Evelyn Hill