Hurt people hurt people

I understand those

Who are wounded

And unconsciously

Seek to wound others

As a way of finding healing.

I can feel the temptation

To lash and flail

With teeth and nails

Hoping to find relief

Even if the cost

Is someone else’s pain.

But life has taught me

That healing is harder won that that;

And that pain in another

Never relieves pain in myself.

So I take a breath,

Even when I want to lash out

At the source of my wounding,

Even when I want to shake

The one who should be

Wrapping me in love

Not anguish;

Trusting that if I refuse to

Bleed all over others

But rather allow it to seep deep into

The soil of my own life

It may transform from

A symbol of sorrow

To one of life.