Living with pain

Someone asked me to express

How leaving with pain is

I stood there perplexed at this proposal 

I then asked 

Have you ever been so helpless?

That death came knocking at your door 

And you welcomed it in

Welcomed it into your inner sanctum

Where it dwells without paying rent

And it haunts you

It bleeds you dry

It feeds off of you

It sucks your happiness out

The way leeches do

Drawing blood from unsuspecting hosts

Have you ever played chicken with death?

Stood there as it came thundering down 

These train tracks you call life

Have you ever invited death to feast with you?

Set on opposite spectrum of the table with it

Made it the company you dreamed of having

Has death dined with you

Till you were no more

Has it feasted on your emotions 

Left you battling with demons 

That were never yours to begin with

Simply passed on down to you

By vessels and carriers 

Who never knew what they harboured in them

They passed it on

The way blood passes oxygen 

Through your body granting you life

Pain has passed to you through your genes 

And you had no way out

Never had a chance

No fight left in you

You retreated into corner spaces

Where black holes call you parent

Because you feed them

And give them places to dwell and grow

Till all that is left is pain

Pain which you cannot share

Pain which you cannot release

Pain which consumes your every waking moment

Pain which steals your every breath 

Day after day dark storm clouds gather

Death waits

Pain endures while it thrives in you