MartyT Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Dear Ones,This poem came to me recently via e-mail, and I'd like to share it with all of you. The author writes, Hello, I wrote this poem after my brother's death eleven years ago. It has traveled around the internet a bit and I've received some very touching emails from people telling me it helped them through their grief. Of course, the thought that some little poem I wrote in my own despair may have helped someone else find their way out of the misery of grief is worth more than gold to me. I hope you can use it at your site, and I hope it continues to help others. I just lost my dear mother-in-law last week. I loved her very much so these words are being tested again in my own life. Thanks for your time.Mark RickerbyHow We SurviveIf we are fortunate,we are given a warning.If not,there is only the sudden horror,the wrench of being torn apart;of being remindedthat nothing is permanent,not even the ones we love,the ones our lives revolve around.Life is a fragile affair.We are all dancingon the edge of a precipice,a dizzying cliff so highwe can't see the bottom.One by one,we lose those we love mostinto the dark ravine.So we must cherish themwithout reservation.Now.Today.This minute.We will lose themor they will lose ussomeday.This is certain.There is no time for bickering.And their losswill leave a great pit in our hearts;a pit we struggle to avoidduring the dayand fall into at night.Some,unable to accept this loss,unable to determinethe worth of life without them,jump into that black pitspiritually or physically,hoping to find them there.And some survivethe shock,the denial,the horror,the bargaining,the barren, empty aching,the unanswered prayers,the sleepless nightswhen their breath is crushedunder the weight of silenceand all that it means.Somehow, some survive all that and,like a flower opening after a storm,they slowly begin to rememberthe one they lostin a different way...The laughter,the irrepressible spirit,the generous heart,the way their smile made them feel,the encouragement they gaveeven as their own dreams were dying.And in time, they fill the pitwith other memoriesthe only memories that really matter.We will still cry.We will always cry.But with loving reflectionmore than hopeless longing.And that is how we survive.That is how the story should end.That is how they would want it to be. -© 2009 by Mark Rickerbymrickerby@yahoo.com Used with permission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kath Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Wow. Thanks, Marty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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