Change: Pain Stopper

A different tack:
10 minutes breathing,
15 looking at,
And investigating what came up.

I found pain
In my upper back,
But when I looked
It retreated, discomfort unpacked.

All kinds of emotions
Came up in its place,
Ancient hatreds let go,
Old memories displaced.

When I watched this unfolding
Of feelings and thoughts,
Astonishment, wonder, surprise arose
As they flitted before my eyes.

I never knew that focusing on pain
Would bring up such an array,
A seemingly unrelated display
That brought relief from the play.

But the thoughts were much harder
Than the pain that departed;
The discomfort had masked
Views and passions from the past;

Products of days
When rejections were body-related,
The body responded
By contracting and aching.

Who wouldn’t fall to complaining
When such rebuffs are proffered?
But now the cause released,
And the suffering temporarily ceased.