Window

There is a pain that stands
between me and the world.
Like a wall,
it keeps me separated,
living in its shadow.

It is the pain that followed me
out of childhood,
based on bad information
imprinted on my mind
long before I had the ability
to discern.

Its pattern,
so hard to shake,
repeats itself in every situation.
It is my default.

But there was something
before the pain.
I recognize it in the face
of a very young child
and am reminded
that it still lives in me, too.

It is wonder.
Wonder came first.
Wonder lives
beneath the shadow
and opens a window
to the world.

By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith