Write them or read them
Beautiful words help
when you need them

although they are just words
not lonely loneliness
not sorrowful sorrow, and
not desperate despair

but suggestive images
of recognisable facts or
personal fantasies

and these can comfort you
can free you from the grip
of the real situation
and the real feelings

which are so tender and of integrity
that you cannot or do not
dare to touch them yourself