Be Brave Poem by ashok jadhav

(A spotlight hits the speaker standing center stage, shoulders squared but eyes reflecting inner conflict.)

Be brave.
That's what they say—
as if courage is a switch,
as if it grows overnight.
Be brave, they whisper,
when the world shouts fear.
Be brave, they insist,
when your hands are trembling
and your heart is screaming stop.
Do you know how heavy bravery feels?
It is not the absence of fear.
It is carrying fear on your back
and walking anyway.
I have faked it.
Smiled when I wanted to run.
Spoke when silence would have been safer.
Held myself together
while everything inside me cracked.
Be brave—
it sounds simple,
but courage is a thousand small decisions:
to rise when you want to sink,
to speak when you want to hide,
to love when the world tells you it's foolish.
And yet…
even now, my knees shake,
even now, my chest aches,
even now, doubt whispers
that I am not enough.
But still—
I will step forward.
I will face what terrifies me.
I will stand, unguarded,
and call it bravery.
Because being brave is not a gift.
It is a choice.
And today… today I choose it.
(The speaker lifts their chin, breathes deep. Lights fade.)