Now there is room here

When I was little, they put a metal thing in my mouth
Every night my mom would crank it open a notch
One click would send me reeling and blubbering to bed.
All this– just so there'd be room for my teeth and things.

To be Expanded is to be Expected.
Things happen that open up our hearts, they hurt, BOY do they hurt.
But we may notice there's room where there didn't used to be,
and we find there's space to give and empathize.