Stained glass

The dull ache of a familiar pain fingers its way through cracked and remodeled ribs

Your strained voice lets the suffering ooze out in small bursts

I am not sure if I am helping or not

but I try.

In between the shuddering tremors I can feel you go limp and heavy with a numbness like the crackling fuzz of a broken TV

My body responds with muscle memory

I imagine the invisible wounds you carry, untreated

Stuffed with gauze and wrapped quickly and carelessly

The burden of the yolk on your neck

Yet you stand upright

Your bones crack and your muscles ache with the weight

Yet you stand straight

Shoulders back, chest out, head up

Imperial

Yesterday a little girl smiled at me

I thought of you

And I smiled back