Facing Pain

by Susan Landon

Wasn’t it those long, long nights

of searing pain that taught

me what I know of gentleness?

Didn’t the sheer magnitude of pain

help me understand kindness

was a real and present aid -

even when shown only to the self?

I would never invite such a visitor

as pain gladly to my door.

And yet – I wonder if my life

would have had such depth,

such majesty without the extremes

of pleasure and pain, doubt and delight.

Susan Landon lives in W. Somerville, Mass.

From Friends Journal, July 2004

Filed under:
Psych-Cat Poetry and Drawing by drlasich