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– Pain Eater (Darker Days in Stride) –

We take the darker days in stride.
When I am farther from him,
I feel closer to the sadness
that grows within him.

He says to me,
as his world implodes again.

“I only want to give you the best of me.
I don’t want you to consume that energy.”

And I reply,
with loving smiles,

“Beloved one;
That’s my place now.
I eat the pain.
I thrive from it.
I have grown up hardy in the broken world,
and seek to bear that weight
from others when in need.”

I know you only want to fill my soul
with all the best of things.
And I am truly hungry for that love;
But I eat pain like a freak show eats glass.
I find so much nourishment
from feeling the hurt you share with me.
And while I cannot lift you out from it,
I can help to bear that weight for you.
I can help to shoulder that burden for you,
until you are able to carry it alone,
until you are standing taller once again.

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