Ode to Grief...
You hide in jolly hollyhocksIn eyes alight with dreamsIn leisurely barefoot, beach walksIn rainbow zinnia streams
In little lass with little curlIn outdoor time for teaTo celebrate a little girlWho just turned half-past three
In ‘my, how fast sweet baby grows’In pangs pure love impartsIn vignettes made of mementosTo carry in our hearts
In treetop tress, first green, then redOrange, russet, gold, then doffedIn brittle crunch beneath our treadWhere leaf-lilt echoes waft
In fading valor of the sunIn autumn-morning mistIn days, that trick us summer-spunWith nights silver-frost-kissed
In swells of history disguisedIn gleaming rise of dayThe essence of the Thing we prizedSnatched to dusk’s foaming fray
In what has almost disappearedAs if it never wasA Very Vexing Vaunt veneeredWith breath-taking Because
Because of love, because of joyAt every turn you lurkI sense you in the carefree boyIn poise of play and work
In gardens, grand with grin and groanOf seed's bounteous wealthIn hands, weathered, worked to the bone In thankfulness for health
In pansies, ever-pleasant charmIn hope and happinessIn sweeps that ripple, rife and warmWith life and loveliness
In arms that never quite grow coldThough Child slips from Her kneeTo chase the winds of growing oldOn wings of vanity
You hide in touch cut to the quickAn artisan of scarsYou always hover in the thickOf laughter’s falling stars
Ah, grief, the price of love, ah loveSo worth grief's cruel testFor only love can be enoughTo satisfy the rest
© Janet Martin