The Armor of Gentleness ​

​I decline the shelter of the timid chick, No longer crying "Help!" beneath a mother's wing, Against the world's harsh wind, the cruel tide it brings. My heart will cease to run from what is fiercely quick. I claim a strength, an armor made of subtle steel, That fears no heavy gale, no wave of slow despair. ​ ​My voice shall speak its truth, no longer kept so low, My thoughts I will proclaim, without the slightest doubt. Let the next day arrive with looks of turning out, Or the shattered gaze of those whose love I know. Their disapproving air will fail to reach me now, I build my deep conviction, and I claim it as my law. ​ ​To reach that true ideal that touches yet is kind, A heart that's soft and strong, determined, never frail. To smile without surrender, to gracefully prevail. To be the loving beacon, the soul that others find, And even this small sarcasm, a language just to care, This is my way of showing the love that I possess. ​ ​To be a brighter self, simply luminous and whole, That never lacks the nerve, free and inc