Readers can see the pain
Writers can scribe the pain
Artists can sketch the pain
Physicians can ease the pain
Loved ones can kiss the pain
Music can drown the pain
Food can comfort the pain
Laughter can endorphin the pain

What remains?
The pain—always there
No matter what we try
Physical or mental or emotional
Can blend into all of these
No matter how, it’s there
It’s there, it’s there, it’s there
Suffering our own is tough
Trying to understand the pain
In someone else’s shoes...
Even harder

Pain wants to yell and scream
Or be silent and groan inside
So why do we care?
Because of empathy
Lend an ear to hear to listen
To comprehend
To have compassion

We may have no answers
But catching someone else’s pain
When they want to throw it
Even for just a moment
Time offers a chance for relief
Just knowing we are heard