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..
*
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
*
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
*
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..
*
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…
*
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..
