To Keep the Pain Away...

I write to myself to keep the pain away

What pain you may ask?

The pain I feel in my bones from the source of my cells

My cells are irregular, they’re called sickled cells

Many occasions I have been hospitalized and felt desensitized

Countless visits, IVs, syringes, tears and pain killers

Yet I’m still alive

I still live, because of the pen that bleeds through pages in my notebook

I still live to look forward to a brighter day

I have my days where writing couldn’t help

The sharpness of the pain was too aggressive

Poetry opens a window of relief for me

I have my good days and my bad days

I have a book or a page and a pen in hand

Those are the good days, the days when I write

I haven’t written in a while because of life being life

But writing to you has opened that much-needed window again

A ray of light has shined through, because of me writing

Thanks to poetry I gained a deeper connection with myself

A connection I didn’t think I’d find in myself

Thank you poetry…for always being there

Tori Greene