Carrying Loss

 

How will I carry it, this pain?


Will I wear it as a gaping wound

or tuck it discretely into my breast pocket?

Will I shake it in anger at the sky

or retreat under it like a big floppy hood?

Will it be heavy on my shoulders,

a great weight curling me into myself,

or as spikes to make others keep their distance?

Will I hide inside it, or hide it away inside myself

so that no one even notices?

 

I hope it will slowly unravel

leaving behind me scraps of coloured cotton,

threads of story, crumbs of chocolate,

wisps of wool snipped from a sheep,

faded wild flowers, tattered photos,

remnants of a long friendship

over now

except for the pain of loss which I must carry a while longer.