Tell me of pain, what you know of it. <br />Is it to be feared, or guarded against <br />like a tangible foe? <br />Do you seek it, or merely accept it <br />like an unavoidable opponent? <br />Is it to be welcomed, with open arms <br />as an enabling experience? <br />You tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine. <br />Pain… She was my first lover <br />My most intimate friend, <br />but a demanding mistress, she is... <br />The more you fight her, <br />she more she hurts you <br />with no safe word in place… <br />As I struggled against her <br />she demanded more of me <br />until there was almost nothing left. <br />She encompasses me, <br />cloaks me in her cold embrace. <br />A cruel master, never meant to rule <br />has no limits to what she will do. <br />She is meant to lend you strength, <br />help you overcome… <br />If only you can harness her, hold her in check. <br />Many years ago she escaped her reigns; <br />now it is I in her shackles <br />I know of no escape though I must. <br />I am riddled with the arrows; <br />arrows that others aimed <br />that she pierces me with, <br />each taking a slice of my soul. <br />Soon there will be nothing remaining; <br />only a vacant shell in which I once dwelled…<br /><br />Angela Davis<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/living-with-pain/
