I Have A Stomach Ache

I often wonder if the pain I’ve
Endured throughout life is meaningful.
The pain as common as stomach aches,
migraines, and menstrual cramps

Or as uncommon and life-upending
as twisted ankles, strange diagnoses and
Recovering from major surgeries.

Is it true that the Pain serves to
offset the Pleasure? That you
cannot truly be happy until or
unless you have suffered? It seems
cruel. It seems unwieldily cruel yet
Such opposites exist.

Good and evil.
Dark and light.
At the very least, the pain serves to
remind you how fleeting pleasure
can be.

Because all good things come to an end.
I hope that the same
is true of the bad.
Because all bad things must come to an end.