There, There

There, There

There, there,
we say to a crying person,
touch them
twice, on the arm, flat palm.
Ascertaining
location is comforting, and
nearness,
and the knowledge that while
despair
can come from you, it is not
lodged
within you. Soothing someone
is a form
of exorcism, shooing away pain
so the person
can become themselves to us
again.
People are places, we admit
mid-pat,
once for them, once for us.
We want
this wailing to roll to a stop.