Contagion

I wish there were vaccines
for the many deadly things
beyond a virus.

I wish there was a dose
that would diagnose
a heart attacked by trauma
before it’s blackened drama
oozed contagious crisis.

I wish there were injections
for emotional infections,
a cure-all vaccination
from toxic actions taken–
where hurting people
hurt people
who hurt people
who hurt people–
a plague of pain
no needle’s sting
can stop.

Until a cure’s assistance,
I’ll keep my social distance,
my emotional resistance,
my boundary insistence
to stop this sick existence
from infecting.

But I’ll also keep revealing
truths to keep on peeling
back the layers of bandaged feelings,
so your soul will stop concealing
your wounds–and you find healing
worth protecting.

Rejecting pain’s pandemic.

Injecting joy systemic.

Infecting the world with love.