I see your pain
and long to touch the hurt
and make it melt away.
Yes, I know
that I can’t really see
the breadth
and depth
of this dark valley you’re in.
I can’t truly know
just how sharp the knife is
in your soul –
for it is you in its path
not me.
But I have known other valleys,
and in my heart
still bear knife-would scars.
Even so,
I would walk you road
and take your pain
if I could.
I cannot.
And yet perhaps
in some way
I can be a hand to hold
in the darkness,
a companion
in your valley.
It might help to know
someone cares.
— Christine Rigden
(also included in Joyce Huggett’s book Listening to Others)