How does one remain soft when

Out of necessity

She has had to yell into the face

Of a fellow pilgrim on the journey

“To hell with you”

While they both continue to walk

Towards the same Heaven?

How does she not let the heart-hardening of Pharaoh

Become her bread and butter

Drinking the gall of that bitter elixir

Because it was the only sustenance left out for her

As she made her way towards God?

And how does she walk beside the ones

Who chose violence or ignorance or apathy

When she was crying out for a friend

To pull her from the pit?

What can she even say to them,

Those who left her behind and thought it was

The right choice

Except

“To hell with you too”

As she treads slowly up the hill

Looking, ever looking

For redemption

And the path to become soft again.