Courage

A keen and swift deserter

Going AWOL just at the point

When we are most in want

of its credentials

A whimsical and capricious entity

In need of nurture and strict training

To make it stay and sit still

A tumbled wall of bricks

To be painstakingly re-assembled

One by one

But be sure to place them on solid foundations

Without which, the tiniest nudge

may bring this shaky fortress cascading back down

to meet the vicious, brutish ruffian

that hard, exposing ground.