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Comfort | John Fox


A photo of someone lying down and someone else massaging their face. A poem by John Fox titled "Comfort" is on the righthand portion of the photo. The poem reads: "Comfort doesn't need to make / a name for itself. Yet, it has a place / and knows that, like a rake / knows the side of a shed / or a shawl shoulders. / Because Comfort knows itself / it does not deny its life, / is not shy, will not hurry / to speak or try to attract attention. // But watch closely, / notice how Comfort breathes / more deeply / than anything else, / opens up room / for you, unwraps / a long pause / around you, as if / it is a gift you deserve / for no reason at all. // Comfort shows you / how the moment does not just / pass but lives / like a pair of hands that cradle / the back of your head and neck, / sensitive that you, the weight / of you at rest in someone else's palms / is like nothing else / in the univese, and breathing again, / looks down, smiles, cares."

If a line or phrase resonates with you,

we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem.


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This poem was included in IPM's June 2023 Newsletter.

Access the full Newsletter here.


 

John Fox is a poet and author of Finding What You Didn't Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity through Poem-Making and Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making (1997). His work was featured in the PBS documentary film, Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine (2008).

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