you wave your hand and say that your

experience is not as painful as that

person over there somewhere so,

you shove those

emotions down,

minimalize.

 

but, i tell you this credible, there is

always, always someone who has

had it worse, more pain, more harm,

more broken,

 

yet that does not lessen the fact that

what happened to you was traumatic,

herculean even, and that it has left

its mark indelible.

 

this is not weakness, this is human

 

and the kindness you urgently need

is to tell your head it’s okay for

your heart to hurt, and demand

gentleness soft on its behalf.

 

it is okay to provide it with the air

that it desperately needs to breathe

so, healing can commence, and to

 

offer this on repeat as often as

required. this will not remove the

experience entire,

 

but will allow it to be knitted

into the fabric of your story in a way

that strengthens, not impairs, woven

right there into the middle

 

of so much that is good. and instead

of the wound growing ever larger  

and festering the longer ignored,

 

it will more manageable become

and will even add strength to your

bones in the end.

 

so, I beg you, do this now, as soon as

possible,

today.

 

Heather Pound 2023

Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash