Courage Counts

Courage Counts

Everyday to the grave
go obscure great men and women.
Weighed down by fear and timidity
their greatness buried
before their bones hit dirt.
The shadows lament
untried dreams 
and aborted first attempts.
like a seed yet to germinate
their potential lay asleep
for more than half a century
never to be woken with the kiss
of consent.
Paralysed by all the what ifs
they never knew
the joy to rise from the ashes.
And so they remained as if
they never were.
And truly they and all they were
remain frozen at a forgotten cliff.