The Familiarity of Pain

You know there is a familiarity in pain? The hollowness inside your chest. The burning eyes yet no sign of tear. The bleakness ahead. The unbelievable urge to fall asleep and never wake up again? Who says willing to live is the strongest instinct? Sometimes you badly want to die, just to make the pain stop. And it feels all so familiar. Like a nightmarish déjà vu came back to haunt you. Like an old neighbour or a batchmate that you lost contact with, but never forgot their face. When an old pain creeps up back into your life you feel shocked at first. Wow! Do I know you? Have we met before? Pain smiles and replies, “Remember when you had your heart shattered into pieces?”