I can’t get away
From these feelings
Which change on a dime
Without reason
Other than mocking
What fortitude
It takes to exist
Every day

Or even attempt
Despite knowing
How blessings become
Sore reminders
Of moments not seized
Facing illness
These doctors agree
Is made up

Despite how they last
During calmness
Ruining quiet retreats
Between bedsheets
While holding my wife
Battling hardship
Still far more intense
Than this pain

Whose health can improve
Only praying
Her husband may thrive
Beyond waiting
For suffering’s end
We both witness
At night in our dreams
Holding hands

Since having such hope
Appears worthy
As these tested years
Should expire
Learning happiness
Naturally blossoms
Once accepting that dirt
Underneath

Where circumstance sits
Asking questions
Perhaps God only knows
Lacks an answer
Watching humans endure
Further torture
Soon believing sometime
They’ll escape.

• J. Pigno