lest we forget what is broken

we are all alone in our misery

if we are lucky to reach out and touch

or be touched in our solitude,

this is life's game of tag

the cruelty we are born into

we cannot love if our love is broken

we cannot see past our pain

we think it bottomless

but only love is bottomless

pain pales in love

but time is a cruel conduit

and in our pain, god is dead

sometimes pain is our friend

we nurse it

and cling to it like love

we help it grow and get strong

we are possessive over it and will not share it

we confuse it for our love

it is only broken love

it will not be forgotten, but it must not be cherished

it is a false friend with a silvertongue

a parasite of our love

sometimes we want to heal a friend

so we take their pain

but this does not always help

because we are fundamentally alone in our pain

we are alone in our misery

all we can do is reach blindly and

perhaps, for a moment,

touch.