The pain is a part of you
You cannot forget
You seek it, you feel it
Despite the new love and joy you’ve found.

Is it wrong to hold on to the pain?
To the suffering that inspired?
To the emptiness you feared?

Is it wrong to long
For the tears that weighed you down?
For the loneliness and misery
That made you feel real?

The joy you feel now
Is like a dream
Too perfect
Too unreal
Can you ever go back
When you wake?

Written July 2000