Li Ruan
Eat the Ache
An elderly lady told me
it's easier to die than to live—
when loved ones depart, their pain
dissipates, but those left behind
carry the loss—the ache that
festers like an open wound,
never closing.
Now I understand her meaning:
the ones who remain must eat the
ache with every breath—seared into
lungs, winding to the heart.
The weight of those lost leaves
the living heavier in the
gray stillness of their absence.
Bio
Li Ruan, born and raised in Beijing, China, is a Manhattan-based educational consultant, emerging immigrant poet, and writer. Her work has appeared in Restless Books, Flora Fiction, Assignment Literary Magazine, Persimmon Tree, Storyhouse, Hamilton Stone Review, New York Public Library Zine, Lowestoft Chronicle, Discretionary Love, and Cool Beans Lit.