Theoretical Courage

By. Ashley Cardona

Armor grows heavy,

It clangs too loud, chafes

the rounded parts of us.

It’s a theory of mine, that if

we remove it, bear our soft

bodies like sheared sheep,

ragged around the edges

and pink, that the thickening

absence of it would inoculate

against the radiant cold.

We might turn, clear-eyed

toward the horizon, unafraid

of what rises or sets. Buoyant

in the cracking dark, bellowing

a cry, metallic and throaty,

ready to hunt whatever

had slaughtered the quiet.

Ash Cardona holds an MFA from Augsburg University. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, daughter, and two naughty but charming dogs, where she teaches high school students to care about language. Sometimes she is successful at this. Her poems can be found in Dressing Room Poetry Journal, Lumina Journal, and Poetry City USA. Instagram & Twitter: @akvcardona