The Pain of Now

by Roxie Powell

This is what whips you back,
yes, it was always there, a
light twink of loss, sometimes
a stoppage, a blunt reminder
the pain is still there, not lifted
by some magical illusion. You
realize that you are back, that
you never left, as if in truth this
“now” was the forever of life.
And, it is better this way, even
with the pain.