"Courage is fear that has said its prayers."

surface

water cold, depleting
energy with grim
determination
at the hour before
dawn
when hope wanes
thoughts weigh down,

sinking

with the oppression
of despair

as the lonely
icychill encloses
overhead
a prayer is sent
to the surface

surfacing;
the prayer, like a
bottle containing
the last message
of hope

finds someone

whether nymph or angel
the creature unknown
reaches down
into the icychill,
pulling me
up
to the surface

breaking the numb
enclosure
I look into
the face of the creature
unknown, and find
a face

familiar, and
as close to me
as my own heart
the creature
is now known to me

and wears
the face of a friend.

my savior, my friend.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace. . One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is an amazing story about the effect one man can have on thousands of children.
In the same dangerous region where the Taliban emerged, Greg Mortenson has brought education to thousands of children by building fifty-five schools in little more than a decade. In his own way, Mortenson is fighting terrorism by giving students an education, and not allowing them to fall prey to the indoctrination of terrorists. Bestselling author Ahmed Rashid says that "Three Cups of Tea is beautifully written. It is also a critically important book at this time in history. The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit."
This book not only shows the desperate need for education in Central Asia, but the effect that one hardworking, dedicated man can have upon nations. Three Cups of Tea is a must read!