After seventeen years of marriage, sleeping alone in our bed evokes a deep, intimate loneliness. I miss Rob every time I turn off the light and slip beneath my blankets. Since he died, many nights I just can’t do it. I grab a sleeping bag and pillow and camp out for the night on theContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “All You Who Sleep Tonight””
Tag Archives: Poetry
Reteaching Loveliness
My youngest daughter adores pigs. What began as an obsession with Peppa Pig cartoons has grown through the years into a full-blown love affair with swine. She owns a full pig costume, complete with snout, ears, and pig slippers. She fawns over adoptable pot bellies on Petfinder.com. She sleeps in a bed invaded by anContinue reading “Reteaching Loveliness”
Poetry Friday: “A Green Crab’s Shell”
As I child, I loved to collect shells on family trips to the beach. Walking along the shore, I added smooth stones, shards of sea glass, even crab parts to my bucket. A diverse assortment of seaside treasures. Inevitably, the crab shells and legs and claws I found so fascinating would begin to stink inContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “A Green Crab’s Shell””
Poetry Friday: “Before Writing Back…”
What do you say to a friend whose loved one is dying? What words are adequate in the face of death? We stammer or babble or, worse, say nothing. What our friends need in their grief, what we need in ours, is the person who will allow her heart to beat beside ours. The companionContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Before Writing Back…””
Poetry Friday: “The Little Tavern”
The greatest blessings in grief are fellow travelers on sorrow’s way. Grief makes us feel isolated, misunderstood and alone. However, when we meet others whose lives have also been touched by loss, we discover friendship, hope and understanding. We cannot lessen each other’s loads, but we can gently companion each other on this hard pathContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “The Little Tavern””
Poetry Friday: “Happiness”
One of the most puzzling aspects of grief — and tough times in general (COVID-19?) — is the persistent inbreaking of joy. Just when life feels hardest, we find something to laugh about, some happiness to celebrate. “There’s just no accounting for happiness, or the way it turns up like a prodigal.” This poem wasContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Happiness””
Poetry Friday: “Good Friday”
I have nervously approached this Good Friday. I carry a different sort of grief this year as I watch Jesus go to the cross on my behalf. Death feels painfully close. Because of Jesus’ death, Rob lives in Him; this is cause for rejoicing. Yet today, I remember that this hope I possess came atContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Good Friday””
Poetry Friday: “Palm Sunday”
In two days, we will remember Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem as we begin our journey through Holy Week. I love how this poem locates that story within my heart. So often, I am willing to follow Jesus when it is easy or thrilling. Like the crowds who shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” IContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Palm Sunday””
Poetry Friday: “Lament”
What do you do with a lifetime’s worth of possessions when the person who owned them is gone? It is normal within grief to keep everything, to give everything away, and anything in between. Physical reminders of a loved one can bring back happy memories; they can also provoke pain. In the end, things areContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Lament””
Poetry Friday: “Up-Hill”
All of my life I’ve loved poetry. I memorized it throughout my childhood and college years for competitions. For seven years I taught public speaking at a Christian college in the Midwest, and I coached intercollegiate competitive speech (forensics) there as well. The first gift Rob ever gave me was a book of Shakespeare’s sonnets.Continue reading “Poetry Friday: “Up-Hill””