April is National Poetry Month.  This year I will be posting raw, un-edited pieces throughout the month.  Here is today’s piece.

Everybody has a story, but how often do we pause to listen?

It’s easy to listen to stories that agree with our own experience,

but so difficult to listen to those that mirror parts of ourselves,

human nature,

that we wish to ignore, hide, fear, or disagree…

It’s not easy to be vulnerable with ourselves, and allow ourselves to see the darkness from which we run.

It is easy to separate ourselves from others with labels, blame, scapegoating, and projection.

It’s easy to hide our judgement behind words such as “I don’t understand”…

What would it take for us to want to understand?

How much pain do we feel we need to endure,

how much do we need to lose,

How long before our splintered minds can no longer stand the partitions we create to protect ourselves from our own facades?

When will we listen to the story behind the villain, and see ourselves as being equally fallible, equally vulnerable,

equally human?

©2017 HAWilcox