Bravery Poem by Bonnie Elizabeth Parker

BONNIE'S OWN POEM

01:
No one must know that I'm lonely
Or care that you've gone away
And I must smile while I answer
You will be back some day

02:
No one must know how I tremble
When I hear a siren moan
Just fearing for you darling
And hoping you're safe at home

03:
Sometimes in my wildest fancy
I dream you're coming back
Tho I know it is never possible
I'll always be waiting Jack

04:
I must be singing always
Smiling as others do
Tho I'm weighted down with sadness
And my heart cries out for you

05:
When I say my prayers at evening
This is the thing I ask
God, make me braver tomorrow
Paint me a brighter mask

END


Historical Note:

Bonnie originally composed this poem in the time period around 1927 when her husband Roy had begun ''abandoning'' her for short periods. She later partly re-adapted it for Clyde when she wrote it as the sixth of her ten poem collection into her First National Bank Of Burkburnett Texas bank book while in the Kaufman County Jail in April May and June 1932. The poem reads slightly contradictory as a result of the re-adaptation.


01:
''Jack'' in this poem was originally her husband Roy. He's ''gone away'' and started ''abandoning'' her. The poem is then readapted to Clyde, where ''Jack'' is Clyde who first has ''gone away'' to the penitentiary and later has ''gone away'' when he was forced to abandon Bonnie as she was caught and jailed at Kaufman.

02:
The moan of a siren makes Bonnie tremble, hoping he's safe wherever he is.

03:
Bonnie tells that she believes he will never come back to her, but he was the love of her life and tells that she will never lose hope and will always be waiting for him if he does.

04:
Bonnie tells that although she projects happiness on the outside, she is sad inside and misses him intensely. She never took off Roy's wedding ring and never divorced him, just remaining separated. She never abandoned Clyde but stayed with him till the very end when they died together in an ambush by a posse of Lawmen.

05:
Bonnie prays to God to help her live with her sorrows and to help her at least create an illusion of happiness. Bonnie prayed often.