One year later

A poem for the grieving

Several years ago, I wrote a poem for a friend on the one-year anniversary of the loss of her brother to a drug overdose. I came across the poem recently and thought I’d share it. Maybe it will resonate with you, or someone you know, who’s in the grieving process.

Last year, a record 112,000+ Americans died of drug overdoses. Another 50,000+ died of suicide, which also set a record. These were brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, moms, dads, cousins, veterans, and classmates. To their memories!

Here’s the poem:

One Year Later // To Brothers Lost

You don't have to wear black any more, Miss Pink & Blue.
Unclip it, pull it off your shoulders, donate it to some cause.
Cast away the last year, the Not-So-Magical Year.
Its sorrows and unknowns, the unfinished business.
The details: dogs, girls, laptops, shirts, and smells.
The sadness at random moments, bitch-slapped by them.
The tears and sorrow and secret pain. The pulling it all together.
The imagined images of final moments and after-moments.
The "Whys" and "How Comes" and "What ifs.”

The time has come to put it all in a boat. Yes, a boat.
Stuff it full, and shove. Watch it glide to the horizon.
And shoot a flaming arrow in the sky, higher than you think.
And as the flames meet the boat and the boat fades into the sea.
Take this blackness and let it sink too. Down, down, down.

Allow yourself to smile at the song, and maybe sing along too.
To laugh at the jokes only he would get, and still feel sad.
To answer the questions and tell the stories with a smile
And feel touched by his presence in goofy ways too.
So ditch the veil and crank up that Eve 6 song.
The Valkyries will take it from here.

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