This Too Is Love

Sometimes loving kids who have experienced trauma is tough. Not because they aren’t precious or worth it, but because the pain they’ve experienced often makes it hard for them to love back. It’s tough to love someone consistently, pour into them, and not seem to get much in return. After a painful interaction with someone dear to me, I wrote this poem…

Sometimes I wonder why
God lets me love so much it hurts.
Sometimes pain gets turned inside out
and looks like fear,
    or tears
    or even hate.
It’s a quiet whisper that must remind me
God lets me love so much
    It hurts.

Sometimes hurt gets turned
    inside out
And all I see are the frayed edges
    the seams that seem to be
    splitting.
I wanted never-ending love to flow
    from me
    unhindered
And here I am, once again
    unhinged
Pain and desperation fraying the edges.

This too is love.

This is a love lost in translation
But this love runs deeper
    than a canyon
    freefalling
Echoes may be all I hear but
This love is the canyon in me
Because God lets me love so much
    It hurts.

This too is love.