Springtime lingering on my lips
/
i breathe into the sound of baby birds
calling for their mother
and i am reminded that you never will
not this time of year again
/
with heavy hands
i rummaged through her little pink box
to find her Merry Christmas garden flag
and none of it felt merry.
Autumn and her many moods
/
she was never staying long in this world –
it’s a kind of truth that only your bones can understand
but this brittle autumn air always chokes me with its taunting anticipation
I wish you knew my grief
/
I wish you knew my grief, all the years without her being mentioned,
without even a single thought until July rolls around each year.
The guilt of smiling, of forgetting for even a moment.
The anger at a world that keeps turning while mine has come to a halt.
all i have to offer
/
she is long gone,
and much of the carbon in her little body
has already moved on to someplace else.
and with that revelation, a relief --
Hello, sadness
/
But in the depths of this despair,
I find a flicker, a light, a flare.
For though you linger, dark and grim,
Love's eternal flame will never dim.