Courage

Courage has bandages on both knees and dirt beneath her fingernails Her hair is still lopsided from a bad decision that she refuses to regret. She wakes up with ideas blooming in her head, and writes them down in a creased orange notebook during the long bus ride to school, where she sits next to the Boy Who Never Talks and makes him smile. Courage volunteers to read aloud in class, even when she doesn’t know all the words. She spins down the hallways to the words of whatever song she feels like singing. Some people sing along. Others stare and whisper. Courage gives them her wide, crooked smile And keeps dancing.