something simple

Grief doesn’t make you special
though your grief
for your things lost always will be
in the way that you are.

When the sky is winter gray
and the rains bear down
you can view this as an oppression
of a life-saving miracle.

Don’t ever stop being carried away
by a thin strip of gesso on a tiny canvas
one carrot stick
on the blue and white plate that you love
the day you decided to get married,
or your compression socks.

Draw these things close to your chest.
One day, they too will travel away from you.

And then, perhaps, you’ll still smile
at something simple,
like a square of dark chocolate—not taken
from the one bar wrapped in foil
and brown paper in the kitchen cabinet,
but rather: given to you.

image by sara nesson