Prompt #2: Give Us All A Piece of Your Grief, Let Us Carry It With You

A Quote Prompt About Grief

Hi!

If you’d prefer to listen rather than read, you can do that by clicking the play on the audio track above.

The Preamble

You can skip straight through to the poem by scrolling down or skipping ahead about 1 minute and 20 seconds, but I wanted to take a few moments to let you know about an upcoming change.

Before that I wanted to say thank you for the feedback about last week’s poem and newsletter. I’m thrilled you enjoyed it and hope future newsletters continue to bring a sprinkle of creative joy into your week.

The title of this newsletter is likely to change. I did not choose Ivy-Rose Opal’s Poetry as a title to stick, but rather as a title to get the naming done so I could focus on the writing. Spending some time reflecting and learning more about Substack has only proven that the title does not fit. I am playing around with some titles and will let you know the week before it changes so keep an eye out. Any suggestions are always welcomed.

The Prompt

This week I attended a funeral. It was a wonderful celebration of a life and the room was full of love. A few small comments in conversation also reminded me of how ill-equipped most of us are when it comes to talking to someone going through fresh grief. We often do not know the words to use and whether or not to discuss the topic.

Following funerals I have attended previously, I have turned to writing to process the mixed bag that is grief. As I sat with it this time, I went through some of those written pieces and stumbled upon this phrase:

Give us all a piece of your grief,

Let us carry it with you

These were the words I had been looking for and couldn’t find. I zoomed this phrase in a bit to make it more personal, more private by swapping ‘us’ with ‘me’.

The Poem

Let Me Carry It With You

When the world is too bright,
Too loud.
When it refuses to stop,
Despite the fact,
You can no longer put one foot in front of another,

Give me a piece of your grief,
Let me carry it with you.

When your chest is about to cave in,
And the tears flood.
When waking up
Is dreadful,
And sleeping, simply impossible,

Give me a piece of your grief,
Let me carry it with you.

When you return to life,
Gently,
When you learn to move,
Round the house,
With ghosts of the past,

Give me a piece of your grief,
Let me carry it with you.

When you're two years on,
Suddenly
Gripped by grief's stronghold,
When your breath is whipped
Out of your lungs
Like the first time you met,

Give me a piece of your grief,
Let me carry it with you.

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Thank you for sharing in this, I look forward to sharing another prompt and poem with you next week.