Playing The Devil’s Advocate

You say pain has waylaid, robbed and injured you,
With malicious vigor; left you broken and despairing.
That it has taken your joy, damaged your trust,
Dug chasms to close you off,
And left you feeling alone and afraid.

But if I may play the devil’s advocate,
You sure this is the true version of events?
Don’t get me wrong; I am not doubting you;
I just need to understand.

You see, pain and I, are old friends,
It has visited me many times,
Not physiological but psychological pain,
One that leaves chaotic trails in the mental landscape.

When we first met, I was convinced, like you,
That it had robbed and disfigured me,
But when I could no longer deny this gentle lie,
I allowed pain to join me at the table.

It spoke with an in-drawing erudite quality,
I found myself weeping; with every tear a wall fell,
And there I was; vulnerable, dynamic, unbreakable.

It told me of the friction of denial,
The self-lie which catastrophizes pain,
The permanent glance backward,
Because we think if we give in,
We will be annihilated.

And yet here I was, weeping but light,
Not that the intensity was throttled back,
But that the capacity to bear grew with it.

My power didn’t lie in holding pain at bay,
But rather letting it in and through,
For it did not manifest out malice,
Or desire for fragmentation.
I realized pain was never an outcast,
But rather the stimuli that reminds us,
Of the strength of being adaptable.

I won’t imply to know how your version unfolds,
Like I said, I just needed to understand,
For I have found that this a very personal experience,
But nonetheless, it touches all in the human family.

So, go deeper with it,
Don’t flee,
Don’t discount your capacity,
Let pain unveil your latent inherent grace to bear it.