Dolorance

There are forever pains, for now pains,
remembered and misremembered pain,
expected and imagined pain

but the worst pains, the very worst pains,
are the wrong pains, the useless pains:
suffering for no good reason.

That said, most pains are unreasonable
and won’t be negotiated with or calmed.
Pain is wrongness made real.

Some can be syphoned off into poems
like turning cremains into a tattoo (yes,
seriously, that’s a thing now)

and some can be channelled into hate
or used to fuel anger but mostly pain
is a complete waste of time.

It’s there until it’s not. There’s no moral.
There’s no lesson. Or worthwhileness.
Just relief when it’s over.

At best you might find yourself with a
schmaltzy elegy, a kitschy watercolour
or a mewling baby.