Learning to Live With Pain

God how she hated the burden on her limbs

That muddied her air and scratched at her skin

She resented the effort it took to get up

And believed that intensity proved her weak (and f@%ed up)

+

But she told me this morning that now things have changed

Her pain doesn’t make her feel sick and ashamed

She remembers her struggle to keep going to class

To complete homework, attempt tests, and finally pass

+

Given how hard she worked every day

She’s proud of her unwillingness to bow down to fate

Her agony, her suffering, her tears every night

Didn’t stop her, nothing stopped her, cause she continued to fight

+

She still struggles sometimes to get out of bed

But not also weighed down by despair and self-hatred

Her words and her struggle have inspired my own

I look forward to our next weekly talk on the phone