IN PAIN WE THINK OF KINDNESS

In pain we think of kindness
The knife that brings the wound
Is a healing touch
Fire to the skin and blood
Pain screaming through the
Bones and muscle and
The heart that pumps love
Blossoming into the burning wound
Of surgery

I thank the hand that
Wields the knife
That brings the pain
Of healing
And think of all the
Pain I have brought to others
Hoping they can heal
As these torn muscles heal

It is to you
The woman I have loved
For this past quarter century
That I wish to apologize
For the cruel knife of change
For the end of our time
And for the love that drains away
Like pain from a wound
It is for you
And this inevitable leaving
That I wish to wash the world
With kindness