Provably Dangerous

“Do you think.” she asked, “that you are healed?”

You have to think a moment.
The truth is you are never healed.
Perhaps some are, but not you.
There are scars. Tender places.
Parts that do not work as well as they once did.
There are things that can make you cry
in the drop of a word at the wrong time.

No, you never heal completely
but that is part of what makes you human,
marks of backbone and persistence, pain and humanity.
They are lessons in forgiveness,
of yourself and others. Lessons in the valor
of others, the walking wounded, Willing
to feel, when feeling is provably, dangerous.

About this poem

Inspired by a conversation my wife and I had while traveling this week. About the hard things to come back from in life. Neglect. Abuse. Abandonment. Harsh words. Being ignored. It is a wonder anyone comes back and allows themselves to love or believe a second time in life. it is, I have learned, an act of bravery to love.

Tom