ODE TO PAIN

Oh, throbbing knee
and aching muscles behind the knee
and down
my leg.

There is a knotted feeling
deep inside my belly.
Four of ten fingers
swollen
and sometimes
full of pain.

But I’m alive and kicking,
though with one leg,
just now.

I don’t want medicines,
or pain relievers,
I want to feel the pain.
Not to exult in pain and suffering –
I am no masochist –
but stay with it
and realize that I created it.

I feel the tremor of the earth.
Am I not also made
of millions of them?
Water and fire in my vains?
Dormant volcanoes
waiting to erupt?

Green pastures in my heart
and the coming storm’s signal
in my bones
bringing longing
for the cleansing waters
and the wind
and the hurricanes
that sweep both
the face of the earth
and my being?

There’ll be a time,
and soon,
when I don’t need the pain,
when I dissolve the knot,
let it unravel by itself.

Then, without fear,
I shall confront
that false belief,
let it flow out,
away
from
me.