Read these weekly reflections on The Huffington Post and VividLife.

Last month, Sounds True published a new, expanded edition of Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness, which gathers twenty-eight years of my writing and teaching about suffering, healing, and wholeness, including thirty-nine new poems and prose pieces not yet published. One of the great transforming passages in my life was having cancer in my mid-thirties. This experience unraveled the way I see the world and made me a student of all spiritual paths. With a steadfast belief in our aliveness, I hope what’s in this book will help you meet the transformation that waits in however you’re being forged. The following piece is an excerpt from the book.

LIVING WITH THE WOUND

There is a need to be specific

if we are to survive,

which requires being honest,

the way seeing requires

the eyes to stay open.

It means I can tell you

when you hurt me

and still count on your love.

It means being honest

with myself, knowing

the ugly things are not

always someone else’s.

I’ve been thinking how

practical people cut the cord

to those who’ve broken hope,

the way breeders shoot horses

with broken legs, as if

there’s nothing to be done.

Now I know they do this

for themselves, not wanting

to care for a horse that cannot run,

not wanting to sit with a friend

who can’t find tomorrow, not wanting

to be saddled with anything

that will slow them down.

I used to think it bad timing.

When I was up, you were down.

When you were ready,

I was scared. But since

we’ve never given up on each other,

it’s clear that drinking wonder

when we’re sad is how we shed

the things we love about pain.

I have a right to joy

even when lonely,

even when in pain,

and you never need

to cover your wounds

when entering my house.

If your voice breaks, I’ll be a cup.

If your heart sweats, I’ll be a pillow

on which you’ll chance to dream

that weeping is singing

through an instrument

that’s hard to reach,

though it lands us like lightning

in the grasp of each other

where giving is a mirror

of all we cannot teach.

A Question to Walk With: Describe a wound you’re living with and how that’s affecting your understanding of life.