Grief has the tendency of kicking me when I’m down
It has a knack for taking me by surprise, creeping up on me when I least expect it
Sometimes it’s with me all day, washing over me like waves, back and forth
At other times it’s like a hit and run, there one second and gone the next
It grips my heart and squeezes it, drenching out the sadness like juice
Loss weighs on my chest like a stone carved from my memories
Those moments, smiles and wishes haunting my mind
Grief is a welcome friend
I embrace it willingly, tenderly, like a comrade absent for too long
It cleanses my soul, washing it with tears
It lifts the pressure from my aching bones
Maybe for just a minute, maybe for days
It’s with me always
Sometimes lurching in the shadows, sometimes holding my hand
Leading me into the darkness, or showing me the light