Acts of Courage

It takes courage to poop
to wait for the plop
knowing the smell may offend others

It takes faith
that our body will expel
what it does not need

Mostly now I poop alone
For 80 days in the Amazon
I had a poop pal

Jane Randolph McNeal

That's her real name
She's the kind of person
who'd allow her name to be in this poem

We dug holes
through dirt, and twigs, and leaves
Sometimes it was sand

Sand meant we didn't need to bring the shovel
We knew we were pooping
but we didn't want the others to know

While we pooped
we never spoke of pooping
Discussion came later

Alone and together
All around the world
People are pooping

We all do it
We all share this courage
This faith

Why waste energy
pretending to be
a person who does not poop?


— Carol Anne Lesser


With wit and irreverence Carol Anne Lesser asks us to lighten up. The California native makes her first appearance in the Bar None anthologies with Acts of Courage in Take Two: Another Anthology of English Writing from the Costalegre.

With the same wit and irreverence that Carol exhibits, the Bar None Group unveils Acts of Courage on March 29 — Shit Happens Day!