It's been a rough one for people in my circle of friends. Two people lost loved ones, my co-worker's grandson and another co-worker lost her dad. Grief takes it's toll on us all as we try to provide comfort where there can be none. I was driving and this came into my mind I have not really written "poetry" in a long time and I'm not sure this qualifies, but it was something I "heard" in my head so I thought I would write it down to think about it in any case.
I asked the angels
"why?"
They were silent for a while
then softly said
The hole made now
will never be filled
but someone else will come
and fill over the hole
leaving a smaller mark
that will always be there.
It was a small comfort to me I suppose and I will think about the implications of the words and wonder what the truth of them might be. We can never ever replace those we have lost, but if nature abhors a vacuum, then so must the human heart. I was looking for the quote I THOUGHT was Nietzsche "life breaks us but we become stronger at the broken places" Turns out it was Hemingway. I was not a big fan of Ernest in college, but maybe I need to revisit his work.
This week's events should not be about me or my reaction to them. I should be concentrating on doing something positive, to put good into the world, to remember those who are lost to us and that how we choose to live decides its meaning ( a quote, sort of,from W.H Auden)
I had not been working at the library very long when I lost both my parents, within less than a year. True that nothing anyone could say could help, but the fact that some people did made a big difference to me. A few colleagues even wrote that I could go talk to them anytime I needed. People do what they can to try to help. The ones who ignored me or said stupid things just made it worse.
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