A Weekend For Poems
I’ll leave you with this.
The Thing Is
To love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
More fit for gills than lungs;
When grief weights you like your own flesh
Only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, how can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.
Ellen Bass
I needed this poem.
Thank you.
That’s an absolutely beautiful poem – thanks for sharing it.
Stunning. Much love, Fran
ps: thinking of you so much
Amazing amazing amazing. I, like N, needed this poem too. I will pen it and put in my box of grief-love-letting go memories…
Thank you for sharing all that you do.
Agreed… this poem tore me apart and put me back together again. Thank you.
I hope your weekend was as peaceful and contented as possible. It makes perfect sense for you to need time away.
This poem almost always brings tears to my eyes. I’m having a rough time right now too, for my own reasons. Thinking of you, Natalie and hoping your time away gives you the peace you need.