A Poem from My Chapbook

This is one of the central pieces in my chapbook - it's a series written on the process of grief, or at least, on parts of the process of grief. There are actually (in some manual somewhere) 8 steps and/or stages - but I wasn't writing a manual. Hope you enjoy:

Time
A study in Grief

I.
Feathers of Sorrow

Now there is nothing
and it's too much,
everything, and not nearly enough
at the same time, and the words
come out wrong because there are
no words at all.

It's lacking, and it's more
than you can carry -
a thousand pounds of feathers,
strapped and dragging behind you.

It's too damned much
this weight of nothing.

II.

The Grace of Anger

Soon there will be anger.

Lend her a name,
one of your own choosing -
make it beautiful, delicious;
her aftertaste will linger
long on your tongue.

Hold her tightly, relish
her flavor - savor her
without shame.

She will be
your lover and enemy,
your confidante
and foe. You will
hate her and need her,
in equal measure, but

make space for her
in your midnight silence,
for soon there will be anger;
and you will learn
to cherish her name.

III.

Poetic Acceptance

Then flew the butterfly from the fog
with wings, lightly dusted
to leave faith-prints on the breeze.

She has shaken free of snow-dustings
to settle gently on the blooms
of the daffodils. She has climbed
prematurely from her cocoon
into a world unknown

with the belief that she,
in youthful glee
will flourish on the wind.

Poetry