The Coward
by Eve Merriam
You, weeping wide at war, weep with me now.
Cheating a little at peace, come near
And let us cheat together here.
Look at my guilt, mirror of my shame.
Deserter, I will not turn you in;
I am your trembling twin!
Afraid, our double knees lock in knocking fear;
Running from the guns we stumble upon each other.
Hide in my lap of terror: I am your mother.
— Only we two, and yet our howling can
Encircle the world’s end.
Frightened, you are my only friend.
And frightened, we are everyone.
Someone must make a stand.
Coward, take my coward’s hand.
This fifteen line poem is comprised of five 3-line stanzas, no consistent meter, but a consistent ABB rhyme pattern for each stanza.
The substance of the piece is a call for bravery in battle. The Speaker is addressing a silent second party, seemingly someone who was attempting to desert, confessing to him his own shared fear, and encouraging him in the final stanza to take a stand in spite of that fear.
It’s a powerful poem about a circumstance few people in the present have ever experienced. Given that, many treat the substance as metaphorical and find in its description of battle, and the urge to desert, their own life circumstances. The call for bravery is thus a call in all difficult circumstances. We might hope that whenever we face such times we have someone like the Speaker urging us on.