Condolence & Loss
Closet Optimist
This isn’t a popular opinion, but secretly I think things are going to work out.
Boundless
This is the
kind of love
that just keeps
going.
Listening Well (for Erik) (fem)
She had the gift of stopping time & listening well so that it was easy to hear who we could become & that was the future she held safe for each of us in her great heart & you may ask, what now? & I hope you understand when we speak softly among ourselves & do not answer just yet for our future is no longer the same without her.
Words of Comfort
There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling rain & remember it is enough to be taken care of by myself.
Wish List
I wish you could have been there for the sun & the rain & the long, hard hills. For the sound of a thousand conversations scattered along the road. For the people laughing & crying & remembering at the end. But, mainly, I wish you could have been there.
Value of a Nickel
I buried a nickel under the porch when I was 8, she said, but one day my grandma died & they sold the house & I never got to go back for it. A nickel used to mean something, I said. She nodded. It still does, she said & then she started to cry.
Treasures
The most important thing you leave behind is the stuff that turns into treasures when children find it.
Thousand Moments
I still remember the day the world took you back & there was never time to thank you for the thousand scattered moments you left behind to watch us while we slept.
Stand Still
The loss is not yours alone, she said & you will see it in their eyes when they do not think you are watching. How long does it take? I said & she put her hand on my chest & we did not speak.
Smaller World
I know he’s not really gone, she said, but the world still feels smaller to me today.
Silver Needle
Each night, all the years we were growing up, she sat in the big yellow rocking chair & pieced together our lives with countless stitches of her silver needle.
Silver Cord
connected by a silver cord that hums with sadness the further it is stretched
Scent
When she wore the hat, even many years later, she could always smell her mother’s perfume & it was hard to remember she was supposed to be alone.
Scraps of Magic
These are little scraps of magic & when you paste them together you get a memory of something fine & strong, she said. Sometimes it takes till you’re 40 to see it though.
Real Reason
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good.
Permanence
Just because they die, she said, doesn’t mean they go away.
Perfect Stranger (Masculine)
I held him close for only a short time, but after he was gone, I’d see his smile on the face of a perfect stranger & I knew he would be there with me all the rest of my days.
Perfect Stranger (Feminine)
I held her close for only a short time, but after she was gone, I’d see her smile on the face of a perfect stranger & I knew she would be there with me all the rest of my days.
Ordinary Life
Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.
One of Us
Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, What have you done with your life? & though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.