Pain, physical pain,
is a constant.
Never ending,
always changing.
Sometimes easing,
always increasing.

Pain, an invisible shroud
discoloring a colorful world.
Muting harmonic music
into discordant pulses
of unwelcome sound.
An emotional succubus.

Emotional pain, heartache,
longing, loneliness, aloneness.
Sometimes ending,
ever changing its intensity.
Damaging the heart and soul
of the unwary and inexperienced.

Emotional pain, centered within
a chest, a mind, a stomach and
oftentimes all three; renders a person
incapacitated, wounded, dying
a slow death unseen and unheard
by anyone except the bearer.

Peace, a brief respite slips inside
quietly, unobtrusively.
No fanfare, no fuss, no rending and tearing of flesh or soul thread.
A reprieve offered by sunlight and rain.
Flowers bloomed and sweet earthsong.