Give me time to grieve,
To learn to live without you,
To remember the sound of your heartbeat,
To forget why I will never see you again.
Give me time to heal,
To recover from the loss of your smile,
That light that shone so brightly,
Illuminating the way home.
Give me time to cry,
To re-live the joy and the pain of your departure,
To fully sob against every surface that reminds me of you,
To fall asleep amidst the thought of you.
Give me time to erase the memories,
To sanitize everything you touched,
To tear every picture,
To replace all the mentions of you in the pages of my life.
Give me time to grow,
To move away from your embrace
And into a world full of possibilities.
Let me breathe in the fresh cold winter air as I say adieu to what needs to stay behind.
Until we meet again.
I read this week that Julia de Burgos, my favorite poet, would have turned 100 this week. She died young and destitute in a New York street and was buried in the city’s cemetery with only a number on her marker. The eerie part is that she had written a poem predicting such an end. Look up Dadme mi número. It’s gorgeous and heartbreaking at the same time.
Like her, I lost an unborn child (read Poema al hijo no nacido) and know what it is like to feel desperate and unloved by circumstances. Her suffering and pain birthed beautiful poetry that is still relatable and expresses the inner struggles of a troubled mind. If you get a chance, check out her anthology. She’s inspired me, I’m sure she wil do the same for you.
Long live poetry!
Mrs. Enginerd - Nerd Whisperer 