When life comes at you bareknuckled and bloodthirsty.
And you find yourself lying naked and beaten in an unfamiliar land.
And you feel the world is watching you broken and vulnerable.
So you hide your anguish, too scared to cry because if you do you might never stop.
And everything you thought was true is now gone.
So without a roadmap, you get up. Frightened and fragile, you take your first tentative step into the unknown.
You go to doctors to heal your body, but the scars are permanent.
And you see other doctors to heal your broken heart, but those scars are permanent also.
After the shock and anger and self-pity and resentment;
When you are too exhausted to fight against the truth of your life,
And You wake up, perhaps for the first time.
Finally you cry oceans of tears. You cry for all you’ve lost, you cry for this good person who suffers. And then you cry for all who suffer.
And so it begins. It’s different from before. You find yourself not as strong physically, not even strong enough to hide your own vulnerability.
And then you notice.
The air itself smells sweeter and the sun is brighter.
Your love is less tentative and more generous.
And you begin loving more people and then all living things.
And loving it seems easier and more abundant than ever before.
And close your eyes and hold your life and you realize all of this love comes through the
scar tissue in your broken heart.
This is my new anthem, awesome
Loved this Dan. Not only does it quickly put things in perspective, it gives you hope and energy towards helping someone you care for get to this point. I will be sending this to a nurse who may come crashing down from the sentiment. This, my friend, is timely. Thank you!
Dan, simply put, beautiful.
I heard you read these beautiful words on Voices in the Family. They stopped me where I stood and made the hair on my arms stand up. It was exactly what I needed to hear and I had to find them, re-read, and share. Thank you for this beautiful gift about healing, releasing love, and rebuilding.
I listen to your show whenever I get the chance Dan. This poem touched my heart as did your topic on Transforming Trauma. Thank you for your courage, compassion, and love.
Tears are the words our hearts can’t find. You have given our suffering a voice; an inspiringl, kind expression of your humble wisdom. Thank you for including your reading as a separate audio piece on the WHYY Voices in the Family website. Listening to you brings a smile of hope and understanding to my soul.
I wish you well. The Bubbie in the Front Row
Beautiful, Dr. Dan. With the sun actually starting to shine now and the spring air filled with mulchy earthy smells, the timing for this poem is perfect is every way possible.
Someone posted your link to my blog saying that mine reminded them of your poem here. Your poem is very beautiful (much more so than my prose), and it’s also much more optimistic. While both our writings contain similar elements, it’s as if mine ends where yours begins to describe emotional healing and love, which makes perfect sense because right now I’m very much still grieving all that I’ve lost, and I still feel vulnerable, and I still cry often. Hopefully, since my writing so closely matches yours, I can look forward to someday feeling less broken, able to love life and all the wonderful things it has to offer. Right now though, it seems like all there is to it is pain, loss, and grief. It’s difficult for me to look toward the future, because my greatest fear right now is not even that things will get worse (which is a very real possibility), but that they’ll never get better, and I’ll be trapped in this limbo and broken down body with no hope for the rest of my days. I try often to rekindle even the tiniest sparks of hope for a better future, but it’s not an easy task when everything around me and inside me is falling to pieces and I have no idea how to go on in such a shattered existence.
” And close your eyes and hold your life and you realize all of this love comes through the
scar tissue in your broken heart” Always inspiring and uplifting Dan. Deeply appreciated.
You may find Tagore of interest
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/281667-strong-mercy-my-desires-are-many-and-my-cry-is
Warm Regards