My Companion
My Companion is Pain; it is my Consort through my day
And my night.
My Companion is always present, always close and
Never far away.
I dread my Companion; it never lets up,
It always pursues.
When a smile touches my heart and passes to my lips,
My Companion returns.
I try to ignore my Companion in the hope that joy will find its way to me
But my Companion won't stop; it is relentless.
I try to face my Companion and look full into its jeering eyes;
It stares me down.
I take a step away from my Companion
Only to discover I am back where I began.
Sometimes I forget that my Companion is nearby,
But it won't let me be.
My Companion waits 'til the moment is right
And I am at my weakest.
It strikes with the speed and cunning of a predator, with the passion
Of a jealous lover.
Resistance is futile, but surrender unacceptable,
Slowly, gradually, certainly, it embraces me.
My Companion is Pain, it is my Consort through my day
And my night.
Brett Barager
Canada.