Love and Pain by Christina Contaldi

Heartache is
love and pain woven together.

Like masked friends,
These two collide

As if to say –
I didn’t know you, too, existed.

These two could sit,
Back to back

for a lifetime,
Never recognizing the other.

One would sit in love,
And the other, in pain.

One stuck in time,
Disoriented and confused.

The other lost in sorrow,
Alone, buried in misery.

Then one day,
Should they choose

They can turn
And face each other.

Two opposites,
Can sit side by side

As they share
Their stories.

One is the story of love,
The other is the story of pain.

Love’s words will soften the heart,
While pain’s will harden it.

Love will expand the heart,
While pain will guard it.

Love will laugh,
Pain will cry.

Then love will extend a hand,
And pain will accept it.

They merge together,
As if to say –

You were there,
And I was there.

My stories happened,
And your stories happened.

Yes, we have suffered –

But we
have also

loved.

See original poem here: https://upwardmama.com/2020/01/love-and-pain/