Beginning Again
"Oh," said my friend the Seer,
"Oh," said my friend the Seer,
"I think you still have to get through
more grief over this one" –
just after I'd vowed to clear the matter
from my head as well as my life,
so I wouldn't have an energy leech.
I rallied quickly. "I can do grief," I said.
"I know grief." (Meaning, "I can handle it.")
And I do know grief. And here it is again.
And I do know how – dive in!
Seeking a new beginning,
I find myself in "same old".
Only, after all, it's always new,
always unique. The familiar shape
you thought you recognised
turns out to be a stranger (even if
there are points of resemblance).
The fact is, pain always hurts fresh.
I wrote this ahead of time for Poets United's Midweek Motif ~ Beginnings, but then found it didn't really answer that prompt, which was about tracing things back to their beginnings, so I saved it for Poetry Pantry #398 instead.
I wrote this ahead of time for Poets United's Midweek Motif ~ Beginnings, but then found it didn't really answer that prompt, which was about tracing things back to their beginnings, so I saved it for Poetry Pantry #398 instead.
Beginning again, always. yes.
ReplyDeleteI love "I can do grief". We know the drill by this time. A wonderful poem, Rosemary. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteSigh.. pain is among the strongest of emotions. No matter how hard we try.. a few traces always remain.
ReplyDeletePain doesn't always fade with time.. a wonderful piece
ReplyDeleteGrief - it's the bane of mortality. I agree that
ReplyDelete'it's always new,
always unique. The familiar shape
you thought you recognised
turns out to be a stranger (even if
there are points of resemblance).
The fact is, pain always hurts fresh'.
Hurt happens, yes, best thing to do manage it, and happy the poet who can write about it, thanks for your skilful poem Rosemary
ReplyDeleteMuch love...
Grief is when we truly realize what exactly we have lost. We hate so much the hundreds of other losses but to lose a friend, lover, spouse or child eats away at us because a part of us is gone as well...taken by the very one we loved.
ReplyDeleteWe can intellectualize grief all we want, but nothing really prepares us for its sharp pain followed by echo upon echo of aches that flow out from its epicenter.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Though griefs have their similarities & familiarities, each grief is also unique!!
ReplyDelete"pain always hurts fresh" : i think it does. sometimes you thought you had it under control and then on one good day it comes back to sting you. :(
ReplyDelete...yes, a very familiar theme as we get older.
Deletevery well expressed.
ZQ
All our life's lessons have new beginnings even if familiar they are each unique and many times painful. Yes, 'pain always hurts fresh'...though I wish sometimes it were not so.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to grief, "Practice doesn't make perfect." Whatever was done before, it is all to be done again, sorta like house work. You just can't do it and expect it to last forever. Just when you thought you have gotten through it, here it is, bursting through the door, tracking muddy footprints across the clean floor, right in the middle of whatever you are doing, with fresh expectations.
ReplyDeleteIt is said, "It is what makes us deeper women." And last but not least, "If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger."
I was told you have to cry every tear, until they are all cried out, and still you will feel it.
Well penned! You describe pain in it's rawest form.
ReplyDeleteOh pain, so true, always hurts fresh. No matter how much we are used to it, pain always comes in new way. Loved it !
ReplyDeleteI guess grief revolves, it doesn't really evolve into something new. Great write Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteSo much truth in your words Rosemary, each grief having a personality of its own. I think Old Egg has summed it up perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAnna
Grief is so hard to do. The pain so deep that it always feels fresh.
ReplyDeleteYes, pain always, always hurts flesh — physical flesh and the flesh of the sprit. Well done, Rosemary.
ReplyDelete"I can do grief" what a line That really struck me...
ReplyDeleteI found myself reading this and rereading it...you've captured that rhythm/shock of thinking the familiar is the shape of knowledge rather than the experience of it.
ReplyDeleteA lot of beginnings all over again. Life is such! It makes it all the more interesting, Rosemary!
ReplyDeleteHank
Grief is terribly painful. Everyone deals and copes with it differently. Anyone who gets through it should give themselves a pat on the back.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, pain always hurts fresh..........And in that freshness is were deep down waits a new beginning.
ReplyDelete'The familiar shape
ReplyDeleteyou thought you recognised
turns out to be a stranger ... '
the closing lines in this are so perceptive, insightful and wise. To my mind, they bring the process of grieving full circle, back to the title of the piece: Beginning Again.
The poem ends with a hard truth
ReplyDelete