Suck

People
Who avoid
People
In pain
Because they don’t know
What to say
Suck

I am one of those people

I have avoided

And I have been avoided

So I kind of suck too

That is how I know that

I didn’t know what to say
Is often just code for
I didn’t want to see your pain
I didn’t want to witness
What you have to endure
I didn’t want your pain
To disrupt my life
I didn’t want to do it

No one

Really knows
What to say

But words

Are secondary
To presence

Being willing to

Come alongside the hurting
Listen to the confusion
Tolerate a fair amount of ranting
See the ugliness that accompanies pain
Feel the waves of confusion
Acknowledge the dark unknown
Experience the constant discomfort
Admit that relief
Isn’t coming soon
 
It’s not about finding the right words
It’s about deciding how close
To get to the hurting

That is hard

That is what people avoid
That is what many
Aren’t willing
To do

That is why

So many

Are alone
In their pain
And no one knows
What to say