Loss is so deep
there are no words
to define its meaning,
that we can speak.
It is empty,
like the ringing of a bell
gone silent.
Or the rush of the bird
that all of a sudden
takes flight.
We are left alone.
And that alone,
is overwhelming.
We can no longer stand up
We cannot speak.
But love, has not flown.
Though we stand without,
the substance of a person in our life;
or thing, whatever it is,
that, like the tide,
has departed at our feet –
love still exists.
It is the only given.
And it restores the floor
under us,
where we lost our footing.
Its in the hands that uplift us,
in our grief.
The love that we have lost
can’t be replaced.
There’s still that hole.
We cannot circumnavigate our grief.
But love transforms.
The tree that flourished
and then lost its leaves,
has dropped its crown.
But its seeds
lie buried in the ground
beneath.
Our loss, can still co-exist
with life.
We see Spring emerge from Winter
and dawn from
the darkest night.
Our hearts may break,
but the breaking brings
its own healing.
Grief will not consume us complete.
In that day that light brings
its blessed relief,
we will find its love
that kept us from
falling.
Ana Lisa de Jong
23 May 2017
Written for a friend on the death of his mother.
Image: Alex Wigan, Courtesy of Unsplash
Living Tree Poetry 