Each evening at Oracle 2022, our leaders gathering held in Potosi, Missouri, we gathered around “Grandfather Fire” to offer gifts of poetry, story, drumming, movement, and song. The following was offered by Illuman of Ohio leader Charles Myking.

It’s Just Grief

The very thought

slows me down.

I stop running.

It’s not going to last forever,

it’s just grief.

I don’t need to linger there,

but savoring the pain,

I can try,

as those places touched unfold,

to fully experience the loss,

leaving no unturned

or hidden fear

to know…

It’s just grief.

Let the waves of sadness crash,

the tears of times remembered

times recalled

and times forgotten

wash over me

and cleanse the open wound.

It’s just grief.

It’s my grief

and only I can unlock the heart

that wants no further connection

to the pain and loss

and the broken, abandoned, lonely

agony of knowing this…….

She’s GONE.

Let the tears flow,

the longing soar

the love rush to find meaning

and reason

where there is none.

 

It’s just grief,

my new found friend!

Living in those I find

on that same path.

Living in those who walk beside me

holding my head

when I can’t keep it up.

It’s just grief.

Living in the love

of those who know how it feels

to be broken in ways never imagined,

never thought of

and not deserved.

It’s just grief,

living only to be shared.

For when it’s all on the table

all on the floor

and Everybody sees

and nobody sees.

It’s just grief.

I must know

that the legacy of Grief

is the wellspring of healing.

Thank you Kelsey and Dad

And Don and Ted and Bev and Bob

And Grandpa and Grandma

And Little Eddie and Bill

And baby Andrew and Michael

Thank you

for calling when I could not hear,

and tugging at the door.

It’s just grief.

And I am safe here,

Free here,

Loved here.

Thank you

Charlie