Even now
that the wound
has healed
and the scar
so barely shows

there are times
of pain and anguish
when the nightmares
let me know

how fragile
a mind can be
as memory
replays trauma
into the night

and yesterday's sorrow
fills the void
with doubt
and aching heart
brought low

making it hard
to fight the demons
and see the cure
lies waiting
for tomorrow

when the pain
will ebb
and joy return
as dawn
defeats the foe.

---

Reprinted 2020 by Marilyn Paluszak from a poem first written in 1986.

Some poems flow freely, without punctuation, and boundaries. I have chosen not to return to edit this one but to leave it wild.

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