Pain shows up at the door like an old lover
Pain shows up at the door like an old lover
and how many different ways there are to greet it-
with anger: pelting words like shards of glass, trying to bar its entrance.
with restlessness: searching every corner of the room in order to find something to blame for its coming.
with fear and shame, those meek twins,
they cause you to run and hide so as not to confront its presence.
one may stand before the arrival of pain,
ready with their own share of sadness-
for fire can’t scorch what’s already been burnt.
but I aim to greet pain like a philosopher,
seated in my armchair with a cigar.
and I will sit with the pain and have a chat with it,
over a cup of coffee lightly sweetened.
though it’s an old acquaintance, I am humbled by how many new things it has to teach me.
when we are done I will escort the pain back out the door,
courteous as ever.
I will have no need
to lock the door
when it has gone,
for once it has shown its true face,
it will no longer be
so unwelcome.
Font size:
Submitted by rachel_2 on May 27, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 55 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | A BCXXCXXXAXBXDEAXEXXDX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 994 |
Words | 212 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 21 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Pain shows up at the door like an old lover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/129339/pain-shows-up-at-the-door-like-an-old-lover>.
Discuss the poem Pain shows up at the door like an old lover with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In