Grief

When grief
First arrives
It greets you
With a slap in the face
Drags you around
By your broken heart
Takes you where it will
Has no regard for your comfort
No respect for your peace of mind

Later on
When you are a little
Better acquainted
You drag grief around
Make a place for it
In your broken heart
Take it where you will
Introduce it to comfort
Make it befriend peace

And though grief

Lacks the most basic of manners
You are much nicer to grief
Than it ever was to you
Giving it a pillow to rest on
When it tires
Letting it breath
And expand
Or hibernate

Whatever it needs

You give it
Because it is a part of you
But it is not all of you

When grief

First arrives
It takes over
And you feel
Only pain
Every minute
No relief
 

Later on

You start to feel
Something
Other than grief
Stirring inside
Filling in around the pain
It is familiar but mysterious
And you can’t quite place it

And then you do recognize it

And place it
And invite it
To come alongside grief
And teach grief manners
And show grief its place

It is Strength

A trusted old friend

Returned
After a long time gone