DO NOT DECORATE THE FEARLESS

The astronaut
is unafraid
     encased, his destiny
controlled, precise in grams,
in volts, degrees and seconds
predictable.

He is not afraid.
Not brave.
    (Fear is the prerequisite
                  of "brave".)

Courage is motion
   despite the paralysis of fear...
is a child on a fence
miles
above
unyielding concrete.
       Clumsy footed,
     halting,
         faltering,
   edging toward eternity
   is brave.

   Moving through   beyond   paralysis.
   As Jesus, who was
   afraid.

-Mary Taylor Vida

The Days Of The White Sun, Fiddlehead Poetry Books 1971