Don’t Give Up (Beautiful Child, Other Self)

What they will pretend not to know

when you are injured

is how ugly you feel now.

It is hard to imagine living

without a part

of yourself.

Every other working arm or leg

or eye

or foot

no matter who owns it

will arouse your envy.

You will hate yourself

for this.

But no. There is another way

to look at all loss

and that is that it is a door.

Of course it is a door at the very bottom

of your world

but you will find it

if you stay the course

of curiosity

between who you were before

and who you now are.

It will not help much to know

what has happened to you

is happening to children

around the globe

wherever they are defenseless

and weak

wherever their protecting families

and neighbors

have already,

so many of them,

been murdered

or taken brutally away.

Nothing will penetrate your sorrow.

Or your loneliness.

This I know.

And yet

here I am singing

a song about doors

at the bottom of dark wells

stuffed already

with rats and corpses.

Here I am telling you

that in reality

and as improbable

as it may seem:

There is no (doorless)

bottom

to this life.