Is resilience being strong
as iron, or perennial as grass?
Is resilience standing fast
in storms, or seeking to understand
how old trees, deep-rooted, bend?
Resilient is the one who whispers
at darkest hours, This, too, shall pass.
Resilience begins in knowing sorrow,
and ends in finding how to tell its tale.
Resilience mutters in trouble, I wonder
what we’ll learn. To be resilient, juggle
strength with tenderness, in compassion
stern. Resilience lives through struggle
by thinking beyond struggle: what does
my foe need to be my friend? Resilience
means you need not win, and yet prevail.
by Kim Stafford, from As the Sky Begins to Change
My History Notes 