THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Kelli Clise-Riffle
Pain
The deep physical pain,
day in, day out
constant companion
the kind you don’t want to wake up for
pain that drains your spirit
when comfortably numb is your
greatest desire
and a final release you
begin to crave
pain so deep in the bones
you crawl, climb, claw from
the bottom of an abyss to
simply be
every day when you wake up.
Pain
the deep emotional pain
produced only by
deep hidden grief
regret, despair, remorse
some caused by others
most caused by yourself
the worst kind of pain
just because you lacked foresight
or because you couldn’t
let go
shattered psyche,
the kind of pain that causes
insanity, psychoses, neuroses
and rage
sorrow so thick you want to
cut it loose from your wrists
Pain
the deep spiritual pain
inflicted on the soul
suffocating the essence of
the spirit you are,
second-guessing, corrected
chastised, shamed, afraid
nothing you see or feel
or know
is considered “right”
smothered by dogma and
doctrine disguised as faith,
drowning in pools of tears
caused by the
soul straining
against bonds
created
by guilt, beration, and fear
until the soul,
exhausted,
dims and waits for release
from this life.
We all suffer in our
own ways
and our own time.
