Before and After ~ Stephen Mitchell’s Second Book of the Dao

I was digging into Stephen Mitchell’s The Second Book of the Dao one day back in January (over a lovely Red Snapper Soup @ Granville Island) when a passage in the second chapter inspired the following poem.

Before and After

Before sorrow, longing
Before longing, anger
Before anger, pain
Before pain, injury
Before injury, fear

In all these there is no suffering
Suffering comes only when there is no after

Before after, forgiving
Before forgiving, love
Before love, courage
Before courage, self
Before self, surrender