The 60-Second Sabbath

grief

  • Remembering

    i sit at a windowin the restauranton the 20th floor of my nyc hotel    cold, february night    snow piles in gutters below    frozen streets reflect homeward headlights i look down on the 9/11 memorial park    two… Continue reading

  • She returns to the houseafter the funeral,alone for the first timein weeks.She exhales onto the couch;a sadness of flowerssurrounds her. This is the silencethat is not silence:    the refrigerator hums;    the traffic grumbles;     her heart beats. This… Continue reading

  • On the Loss of a Friend

    I take stockof sadness. How is itmeasured? At timesit fills this chipped cup. At timesit fills the sea. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Grief

    Tears flow.Run themuntil they run clear. Tearskeep moistthe wounds,speed healing,prevent scarring. Sadness hurts,sometimes feelsit might kill. But sadness heals.One must trust this is so.Allow it. Sadness is baptism,ritual cleansing and promise–enter these watersboldly. One dayyou exit the fontwith memory intactbut… Continue reading

  • Mom’s Birthday, February 28, 2013

    She would have turned 93,were she alive. Is it okay to say,"Today my mother turns 93,"or can one no longer say this,when the body is gone?In such cases,there is nothing to turn 93.A buried box of ashes?Even that likely no… Continue reading

  • Christmas, Day 3

    Nine years ago this day,mother willed herself away. Grief blinded us to this gift,which she had so carefully wrappedand presented, privately, to herself. Guilt blinded us to this tender exchangeas spirit said to soul,"Here, for you…that best of gifts,the one… Continue reading

  • The Release

    I see your hand on the door,hesitating. We know it's time.We know your feast awaits.We know that I, at least,will ache with emptiness once you are gone. Desert me. We know destiny has laid the table,that this you deserve–have prepared… Continue reading

  • The River of Grief

    The river of griefebbs and flows like the tide,unstable its banks,its floodplains wide. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Forest

    Lost in the forest,alone, afraid, abandoned,I fall to my knees,bury my face in my hands,and weep. When my tears have ended,when I have exhausted my grief,I open my eyes and look around:trees have gathered,forming a protective circle,arms joining above, sheltering… Continue reading

  • Autumn Wind

    Autumn wind,blow–strip the leaves from the trees,leaves crisp with deep color.Strip from our soulthe dry and brittle sorrows of the passing year. Autumn wind,blow–fallow the earth,prepare us for winter's cold and stilling layeringfor snow-shrouded stubble.Bring to our heartsthis welcome time… Continue reading