Grief Today

I woke up next to
Grief today,
his bony arm stretched
round my waist like he owned me.

My pillow was drenched.
My eyes puffy and tired.

I lie there with my back to him, wondering,
"Where is my Beloved?"
but the only sound was a howling wind coming
from his cavern of bones.

It happens some days--
that goodness and light
disappear into the darkness,
upstaged by a skeleton of sorrow

The air that was clear and easy to breathe
becomes dark with soot and full of debris.

This is the Deep Mystery:
this coming and going
of Light and Dark.

The seeds know it.
The moon knows it.
The earth herself knows it.

Every shadow is caused by a brilliant light--somewhere.

Taken from Museletter by Jan Phillips 5/26/2011