My good friend, Monica Charette, recently shared this poem on her podcast, “Holding the Light”, https://www.shineoncass.org/holding-the-light-podcast.html. She also read it during the Blue Christmas ceremony held on the winter solstice.
The holidays can be difficult for some people, me included. Though I have so many joy filled memories of time with my daughter, I miss her. This poem says a lot…….💜
By Becky Hemsley.
I held a party the other week and grief came.
She wasn’t invited but she came anyway - barged her way in through the door and settled down like she was here to stay.
And then she introduced me to the friends she’d brought with her - Anger. Fear. Frustration. Guilt. Hopelessness.
And they sang in the loudest voices, took up space in every corner of the room, and spoke over anyone else who tried to talk.
They made it messy loud and uncomfortable.
But finally, they left.
And long afterward, when I was all alone,
I realized there was still someone here.
Quietly clearing up after the rest.
I asked who she was and she told me, “Love.”
And I assumed that’s why she looked familiar - because I had met her before.
“Or perhaps,” she said, “it’s because I’ve been here the whole time.”
And I was confused then because I hadn’t seen her all evening.
But when I looked more closely,
when I looked into her eyes,
I realized quietly that she had been here.
All the time.
She’d just been dressed as grief.
