Poem from Rachel: Grief is Love

Excited to share my new work with you in this space. ❤️

Photo by me. [ID] Sunset at sea: an orange strip of sky beneath gray clouds. Below is a dark oceanic expanse, with a white splash and gray rocks in the foreground.

Thank you for being with me. I am looking forward to sharing what’s been unfolding. I was waiting to do so until I had the container. This space can hold disparate elements in a multitude of media. It feels good to be emerging here.

I want to share a poem with you.

May it bring comfort.

❤️

Grief is Love
by Rachel Kann

All of it is love.

Every memory,
the fragility,
the frailty,

all that is lost, 
the ravage 
of humanness,
all its limitations,

the hand-in-hand,
the mystery,
the breath,

the crossing of oceans,
the returning,
the giving away,
and every bit of laughter,
even the bickering,
the aliyah,
the little one you were,
the way your birth
was a miracle 
that changed everything—
all of it is love.

The precise moment words 
and exhalation
and suffering
are done—
all of it is love.

The awakening 
from dreamless sleep,
the momentary respite,
and then 
the flood of remembrance,
the ache in your chest,
and yes, 
even that relief—
all of it is love.

The wondering, 
the evening,
something in the distance
growing smaller, 
its disappearance
beyond the horizon,
the setting sun,
the black night filled with starlight,
and the little flickering flame,
and then darkness,
and then the sun rising again—
all of it is love.

And
it is in the brightness of your smile
(which will, soon enough,  
come more easily again,)
it is written in your fingerprints,
it reverberates in the rhythm of your blood,
it is what you are made of,
it is this interweaving of sweetness,
it is what is found in stillness.

You are surrounded 
by a swirl of presence,

which is a familiar comforting scent,
which is a hum,
which is a gentleness
which will never leave you.

It will never leave you.
It is promised,
and all of it,

all of it is love.

❤️