Of My Bleeding Pen

My pen cannot much bleed.
My heart, though it may ache,
cannot a loud sound make.
I suffer – as do many others -
from nearly endless annoying conditions
for which I seek relief, but I can no more make
you feel my pain
than I can make you feel my smallest grief.

We live each in our own bubble-worlds,
understanding one another’s words,
but how can we really feel
another’s pain for REAL? Mere words do not suffice.
I think of those who suffer from mental illnesses
or others marooned on their own little islands of despair.
How can we ever make ourselves comprehend THEIR pain?
And with strangers, how easily can we care?

We live with trials, sometimes never knowing
why some burdens came to be our own.
People born with no arms or legs – a horrifying fate.
Sightless or worse – the brain so dead it never can create.
What good in bleeding one’s woes with a pen?
Somewhere in the world right now
people are bleeding far worse than you or I
again and again and again.

Imagine if we could really “feel” each other’s pain.
One's mind could not withstand the onslaught
of feeling everybody’s strife.
God made it this way; and thus is life.
And so we write or we tell our woes to friends.
I do not know why some suffer more than others.
I only know one day the suffering ends.
Until then, I keep on writing because I feel the need,
but the pen I use to write with hardly knows to bleed.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2020

Poem

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Hind Avatar
October 11, 2024 at 5:41 PM
A breathtaking poem, Andrea...it flowed with so much empathy- I will fav <3
Idudje Avatar
May 3, 2020 at 8:18 PM
You Are A Mother Your Felt Concern For others golden Well done . S.R
Roper Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 10:00 PM
We can not feel each other’s pain for REAL? Mere words do not suffice. Perfect write my friend. Hugs Eve
Watt Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 11:06 AM
You dug really deep with this one, my friend. Some philosophical questions grounded in your chronic pain. The knowledge that others suffer worse fates is a good reminder to be empathetic, yet it still doesn't take away our ailing. How can you compare one pain to another? You can't, you can only learn to comfort others that they are not alone. I'm so glad you wrote and shared this, I for one feel less alone in the world because you did. Hugs ~ John
Dietrich Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 12:59 PM
not one of my poems that will ever get read by more than a handful of people, but I am so glad you saw it.
Dietrich Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 12:58 PM
thanks, john
Perna Avatar
February 10, 2020 at 4:38 PM
Excellent details! So true many of us cannot even imagine another's pain.
Carber Avatar
January 19, 2020 at 10:06 AM
You ask a lot of hard questions here,Andrea-- none of which it seems can be answered in this world. Congrats on your win
Carber Avatar
January 19, 2020 at 10:06 AM
You ask a lot of hard questions here,Andrea-- none of which it seems can be answered in this world. Congrats on your win
La France Avatar
January 19, 2020 at 8:16 AM
Andrea, wonderful, I heard your bleeding pen, congratulations on your win in the contest _Constance
One Avatar
January 19, 2020 at 7:25 AM
your pen really bled here... Congratulations on your placement in the contest..
Laurie Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 5:57 PM
Hello Andrea … a superb verse Andrea. Comforting and listening may help, but delving only finds a veneer in so many cases that disguises a wall - thank you Andrea - Lindsay
Dietrich Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 7:06 PM
a very astute thought you expressed!
Wolves Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 1:55 PM
one can never fully understand another persons pain without empathy. one must walk the same path and experience the same pain to even have a chance at understanding or feeling their pain... but it helps them to know someone still cares and writing about it shows them they are not alone...
Dietrich Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 7:05 PM
yes, so true!! I have nobody in my category that I can commiserate with, so it gets lonely. But I can sure relate to the people who have other little problems like I have!! The best we can do for those who suffer things we can't understand is to just listen and be there for them.
Krutsinger Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 4:54 AM
" so we write or we tell our woes to friends." - this is one of the reasons writing is therapeutic to me. Bravo! And what friends I have now! All kinds of friends all over the world! PoetrySoup is like having thousands of penpals!
Cunningham Avatar
January 16, 2020 at 10:00 PM
Unless we actually suffer those conditions you mention we can only guess what folk are really going through. Tom
Allison Avatar
January 16, 2020 at 6:08 PM
a thought provoking piece Andrea, have to be thankful for everything we have as we cannot begin to imagine the suffering and trials of life that others go through :-) hugs Jan xx
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