Secret Peace

I think not many people

want to consider

what it’s like

on the other side

of the unthinkable

— certainly I never did

And when they say

they just can’t imagine it,

that is most likely true,

though their minds have thrown up images

of the pain,

and walled it off quickly

(that is what I always did)

Yet there are also many

(more and more of them,

as we get older)

who have crossed

(or been thrown over)

the line

And of them

I’m sure many have found

the sweet secret peace,

and hold it like a small light inside

and don’t tell anyone about it

(for who would they tell?)

but you can see it there

if you know to look.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 19, 2018