A poem-echo of the first reflection on love: to love is also to accept suffering
by PancakeSushi
This poem echoes our first reflection on love — the idea that to love is also to accept suffering.
Not suffering born of harm, but the quiet weight of caring, of witnessing another’s wounds without being able to erase them.
This poem is part of a collaboration with PancakeSushi.
You can read the original post and explore his work here:
The Glass Cathedral
Since first I knew you, I’ve wanted to possess you
Be possessed by you, savor your notice
To take you from the glass cathedral you’re in
Trammeled by a past whose blade buried itself in you
To witness you, as you are
Your wounds and worries, and caress them
To tuck your humanity behind my ribs, and shelter it there
Grateful you’re a slow-burning ember in my chest
A sign of life, in a dull ledger of tedium
You’ve moated your feelings in seas stormy and frigid
That I’ll give patient drips of care, to overthrow
Accepting the ruts in this path as a life worth earning
I tender you my vulnerability
My heart and mind, my being and future
My naked frame, in all its frailty
Knowing you are my kindred spirit, and will softly hold it
And enfold you in an embrace that closes my eyes slowly
A merger of forever, woven fates borne by souls
Destined to know one another, again
About Mike (Pancakesushi)
Mike — known on Substack as PancakeSushi — is a writer who arrived late, but not empty.
At 52, he returned to writing after a silence that stretched back to adolescence.
What came back with him was not noise, but depth.
His words are personal, restrained, sometimes dark — not to shock, but to tell the truth.
They speak of endurance, of staying upright when life presses hard, of the quiet resolve it takes simply to continue.
If this piece resonated with you, I invite you to follow his work and walk a little further with his voice:
Some journeys don’t begin early.
They begin when we are finally ready to speak.
You can support this space by becoming a free subscriber to The Mirror Room Journal, and by sharing this post with someone who might need it today.
On Sunday, we’ll continue this journey with the second reflection on love:
Second Reflection on Love — To Love Is Also to Prepare for Loss.
Until then, take care of what this stirred in you.
Warmly,
Odel A.
 | A guest post by
|
Thank you Odel. It was a pleasure to work with you
Great collaboration! Great collaboration! The poem is breathtaking.