I Will Not Call You Hero

I will not call you hero.

You are much more than the word implies.

You are superior to how hero is defined.

You are not a man of superhuman or physical strength.

You are not a demigod of prowess and beneficence.

You are not a warrior or chieftain who conquered in war.

I will not call you hero.

At my time of need, you were more than a hero.

You saw the villain was not an external threat,

Rather, doubts, devouring me from inside out.

I was not in need of a sledge hammer or sword,

Rather a soft shoulder and gentle strokes to my hair.

I will not call you hero,

But I will call you guide.

I will call you advocate.

I will call you friend.

I will call you heart.

You did not have to accompany me on my journey.

You had your own path to follow, a course to trudge.

You paused, you stayed, you lingered alongside me.

I could have struggled alone, but you would not let me.

You held out your hand the moment I fell,

And pulled me up beside you.

I will not call you hero.

You are more than the simplicity of the word.

You are flesh and blood and heart and soul,

You are with fetishes and flaws, you are like me,

You are me, who I would be if I could learn what you know.

I will not call you hero,

But I will call you guide.

I will call you advocate.

I will call you friend.

I will call you heart.

The challenge asks that I name and reveal you to all,

That I bring you from the shadows into the spotlight.

You without ego, need for recognition, placed center stage?

You would not condone such notoriety or be showered with praise.

You are neither modest or shy, you know your value all that is wise.

Or, perhaps, I am not being fair to you or your legacy.

Could it be that I do not want to share your greatness?

Is my real flaw jealousy or a neediness for your affection?

Have you seen through me, considered my faults?

Still you stay. But why?

Maybe I should call you hero.

Your tolerance of me and my insecurities is heroic.

Your kindness is your superpower, your loyalty is brave.

Your courageous and noble acts are not mythical.

Your pedestal is built of fortitude and grit and admiration.

I should call you hero.

I should call you guide.

I should call you advocate.

I should call you friend.

You are my heart.

You agreed to stand on the pedestal I built.

You accepted my blind devotion.

You morphed into a demi-god of my own making.

You took the chance to be held up, only to be torn down.

And now I must decide how best to honor my hero.

Should I craft you to become part of legend,

Or should I display your human qualities?

Are you a collection of ideas, my ideas and concepts,

Or a person of your own making, you just being you.

Do you have any say in this ode to who you are to me?

Do you want your heroism to be turned into gold or dollars?

Do you want to be the symbol of my imagination, my motives?

Will exposing you cause your feet to turn to clay, leave you devoured by scandal?

I will not call you hero,

But I will call you guide.

I will call you advocate.

I will call you friend.

I will call you heart.

I will not name you, but share you just the same.

My champion, my person of the hour, my person of every hour.

I will call you something mightier than hero.

I will call your friend.