The Rules of Engaging Grief

This poem was inspired one afternoon as I remembered in love my spouse who passed on five years ago.

“Where Are You?”

Where did you go?
Seems so long ago
We shared one pillow,
Drank wine together,

Laughed endlessly,
Cried soulfully,
Shared generously,
Prayed consciously.

And then you left
For me to find
Who I’d become,
A voice subdued.

In silence alone,
Patient as life’s clatter –
Distractions – subsided,
Spirit renewed,

As did laughter
And yes love too.
So here I am –
Where are you?

On the bumpy ride in the back of a pick-up truck driving on roads of sand in Corova, NC, I thought of the first stanza as I viewed homes built by those who are my age vintage.

Corova

As we age we seek
To realize dreams
Reserved for youth
Too busy to dream.

We plant fruit trees
Not anxious for harvest,
Build deep foundations
To refuge those in need.

Still we travel now
Beneath pounding surf
To wisdom love
In glistening light.

Is this our legacy?
A testament profound
For those that follow close
In awaking consciousness.