Lesson in Grief

Some time ago I was foraging through

The unfathomable depths of my soul,

When I stumbled over a rugged being

And got speedily trapped in its thick purple tendrils.

It is uncertain how long I lay there,

Immobile,

Watching my long-standing walls and prideful fortresses

Pulverize in a mist of shimmery pebbles.

Whether it was for moments or eternities,

The rugged being had managed to crush through

My rocky shell

And was now swinging my fragile core in its thick purple tendrils.

I tried reasoning and pleading with it,

While offering it strings of moonstone emotions,

And dreams made of silvery thoughts,

But it continued to hold me, ever so tightly.

Once, I asked it who it was and what it wanted,

And it said sternly, yet lovingly, its tendrils turning an even deeper shade of purple:

“I am Grief,

And I am here to protect you.”

If any Knight of Hope should ask,

I fought hard to free myself from Grief’s tendrils,

Firmly rebuking its claims of protection,

But it invaded every recess of my core until my tears were no more.

It is uncertain for how long I lay there,

In the arms of Grief.

It could have been for moments or eternities,

Or for as long as shooting stars need to fade back into the tapestry of the universe.

Whether the laws of living dictated it, I may never know,

However, once, I perceived a feathery tap against my cheeks.

And then, my eyelashes turned golden,

And my eyes captured the glorious glimmer of dawn.

I looked up and caught the tip of a wing caressing my countenance

With hues of peach, and yellow, and very light pink.

And I knew that the warmth of Compassion had arrived

To cut deep through the tendrils of Grief.

A fight so fierce I had never witnessed!

The sky was equally filled with purple whirls and blushing hues,

As opponents exchanged sharp arguments,

And my core freed itself, audaciously piercing through Grief’s dying tendrils.

Looking back on my story, the biggest lesson I learned

Is that no matter how bleak the colors,

How pervasive the loss,

How grim the imprisonment,

How thick the tendrils of Grief,

Compassion can salvage, restore, and uphold,

Even the most wretched of cores.