That Hidden Pain, that Tidal Wave of Torment

He feels pain, that won’t let go She feels pain, she’s afraid to let show The world’s now darkened, where it once was aglow Like living in the shadows, ‘neath the walls of Jericho Where we once approached each day, with energetic gusto The pain now overwhelms, say those in the know It’s affected his employment, reduced her workflow It controls her life, requires that he kowtow It exploded their lives, like a career torpedo As they live within, their personal Kosovo They feel all alone, which is quite apropos It’s like knowing you’re right there, in the hairs of a crossbow In isolation so stark, like a compound in Idaho It still sends them spinning, like intense vertigo Like drowning on land, pulled down by an invisible undertow Like reeling in the ruins, of a 2008 stock portfolio Or trying to pick up the pieces, after a Kansas tornado This one can’t get going, without a double espresso That one can’t get through, without a few glasses of Bordeaux We all watch it happen, what to do we don’t know Let the response not be silence, or quid pro quo Not acting surprised, not just exclaiming “Whoa!” But listening and learning, about each fallen domino Until one day they become, a pain-soaked manifesto Which we will study with the intensity, of a stunning Van Gogh Committing ourselves, to not letting it go Before we bring each other, out of the darkest shadow.