It wasn’t if she stood up straight
Or if she could retaliate
It wasn’t if her eyes burned red
Or if she flashed her claws instead
It wasn’t if she didn’t cry
Or if she hated long goodbyes
It wasn’t being lithe of limb
Or fit and strong or quick and trim
It was that, deep inside her heart,
Where treasured things lay in the dark
Regardless of how her world turned:
She let an ember of hope burn.
Beautifully written! I like your use of repetition and counteracting the cultural portrayals of bravery as relating to physical might or stoicism. The descriptions “eyes burned red” and “lithe of limb” are especially nice and the ending is very well done too. One minor area of improvement could be using a stronger word besides “things” in the last stanza. The use of “instead” in the first stanza confused me a bit as well, since red eyes and claws both seem to portray anger and a willingness to fight in my mind. Overall, great job!
