Journey through Grief

I believe that healing from grief requires embracing it, and going through it, in order to move on.

From childhood years I had been taught

You had to look happy, even when you were not

The world would soon get tired of your grief

This was what I had imbibed, this was my belief..

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So when tragedy gave me a gut-punch, myself I found

Facing a deep chasm of grief profound

In my sorrow, from inside I was a mess

While projecting a calm demeanor, I confess

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Behind a stoic facade I did hide

I withdrew in a shell, retreated inside

I interacted with the world, but I was depressed

Turns out it was because grief I had suppressed

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One day in a vivid dream I did see

My grief as a raging wide river before me

Contentment and hope, it appeared

Were on the opposite bank- I feared

That instead of crossing the river of grief

I had been skirting the shore in misplaced belief

I needed to swim through the river after all

This was my epiphany, this was an action call..

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I plunged in to the river of sorrow and misery

Painful at first but cathartic eventually-

I went through my grief and not around

On the other bank of the river there was hope to be found…

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My grief finally exorcized, I could move on

Come out of my shell- the sadness had gone

The only way forward after a traumatic event

Is not around it- grief needs to be experienced

By donning a mask and not mourning my loss, it appears

I had prolonged my misery, in mistaken assumptions and fear..