Poetry: Portrait of Pain (1-27-06)

Portrait of Pain
1-27-06

Pain comes in many forms,
But what it looks like, no one knows.
All that we see are examples of it,
Of people who rise just to fall below it.
The face of Pain might be black as a raven
And strike such terror men run for a haven
But what if its story’s so sad when told
That tears come to the eyes of the cold?
What if the feelings of anguish in Pain
Passed to each person who witnessed its bane?
Is Pain human? What would be said in lore?
Is it just an idea, or is it much more?
It is the center of our very being,
The thing all humanity’s wrapped around feeling,
We love it, we loathe it, we can’t realize
Why this emotion’s so key to our lives,
What artist could paint the emotion contained
Inside of each droplet of being in Pain?
It can’t be done, but I’ll try all the same:
I’ll attempt to paint a portrait of Pain.

I was doing something I can't quite explain, something that hopefully other writers or artists or both do. I was sitting with my head back and my eyes closed, imagining, visualizing darkness, attempting to put an image to the pain inside people's hearts, thinking from the perspective of some character (and I don't even know who)... when this strange phrase came to my mind: "I wish I could paint a portrait of pain." I was trying to draw this image in my head--and failing--when the idea to write a poem popped into my head. And so here we are. I hope I can create that image I have seen... I cannot be so cocky as to claim I can see in my mind the portrait of pain itself, but perhaps I can capture just one tiny facet of the emotion that has both graced and plagued all humanity since the beginning of time...

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