“Later,
if you have endured a great despair,
then you did it alone,
getting a transfusion from the fire,
picking the scabs off your heart,
then wringing it out like a sock.
Next, my kinsmen, you powdered your sorrow,
you gave it a back rub
and then you covered it with a blanket
and after it had slept awhile
it woke to the wings of the roses
and was transformed…”

Anne Sexton
Excerpt from Courage