It’s nearly dawn.

Pain, against my will,

makes me a bore

giving too many details over the phone.

There’s a loneliness to it

though it’s the most common thing

in the world.
At least it’s brought me this stillness.

I stare out the window

to watch the world form

grey shapes from blackness.
Pain triages my life.

It clarifies friends,

resets me to family, food,

loved one, meds.
The early news is full of it.

Pain much worse than mine

written on faces in Gaza,

faces in Ukraine.
Some pain is hard to learn from.

But this has taught me about the Other,

to reach into the fragile stuff

from which we’re made.
Saying goodbye to pain is such treasure.

With repaired spine to sit once more

beside you in the kitchen, to simply

talk and laugh

and brew some coffee on the stove.
How slow I’ve been to speak of joy.

But I now find it here, pouring in the window

with the light under the grapevine.