Saturday, December 10, 2005

Grief

Grief, oh Greif
you are nemesis
as a sneaky rodent
nibbling and nesting
within
you won't be chased away

Grief
you tangle 'round my feet
like a snotty nosed whimpering toddler
tripping me up
I must catch myself -
in odd places
like the bathroom
or
now
when I am least expecting to be tangled up
in your grip

Oh Grief
you are an errant shadow
that leaves me squinting and searching
seeking
the light
my head bobbing and weaving
where are you Light?

Grief
damn you grief
you appear in the softness of my flannel sheets
in the strength of my husbands arms
and in the bottom of Cherry Garcia
there is no hiding from you
anywhere

Grief
Oh Grief
don't make yourself at home here
no nesting
no settling
you are not welcome here.
Like Grandma
we tolerate you for a time
but wait for your leaving
Like Grandma
you stay
'til I am frothing at the mouth
'til I am tight as a bow ready to launch
the arrow
'til I am exhausted with you.

Greif
it seems you are here
for the holidays
like last year.
You found comfort here
yourself
and you return
to grasp at me
to pull me away
to suck the marrow from my heart

You worry at me
like the dog with a new bone
I assure you Grief -
I am tasteless
dry;
won't you bury me?

3 comments:

gina said...

Oh, D! You are brilliant and elegant! I am so sorry for the losses you are feeling!

By the way, you are BRAVE! Putting your deepest feelings out here for all of us to see and experience takes grace few of us have!

I am honored to be on your blogroll! I am adding you to mine.

I am fervently wishing you a great new year right now!

Piece of Work said...

That is a really beautiful poem.

Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.

Anonymous said...

I see what you mean. I described grief as a hole in my book, and sometimes people wanted to help me out...but I wasn't ready. Something about the hole felt comforting (the way an anminal goes off alone to die)at the same time painful. Writing the book was like taking field notes from the trenches of grief's frontline.

Thanks for stopping by.
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