PAIN

I can smile when I am in pain

I can’t laugh; not even feign

Pain is a temporary feeling,

It’s nothing but a transitioning,

From a mental state of stasis

To one of instant catharsis.

What’s a lover’s pain?

But a feeling someone can’t contain.

Pain is eternal, it has no limit

I can’t ever recall being without it

When I was an errant fool in school

Even in my flighty youth trying to be cool.

Pain devastates, leaves our life in shambles

As I grow old and as my defence crumbles

I wonder, “Was there a day that went by,

Without the pain that we endure nightly

Be it in a hospital’s operating table

Or, in pursuit of this literary dream, so noble?”

I can smile when I am in pain

But I can’t laugh; not even feign.