Labyrinth

Labyrinth

Path of polished marble
Inlaid among ebony
lines of stone
Bleak, frigid sky
Wind moans in the
dry, chattering grasses
surrounding the maze.
Dead but still beautiful
in their winter tan,
fronds and tassels
dance tall and lively
above my head.
I breathe deeply,
remembering lost ones…
sister, child-friend, baby boy,
and countless victims
of tsunamis and hurricanes
wrenched from our grasp
on a wave of grief.

I step forward on the path,
mindfully breathing
and walking,
left foot, right foot.
Once on the tangled grief web,
there is only way in
and one way out.
The way out is
the way through.
If one walks with an open
yet wounded heart
(for all such hearts are
vulnerable by definition)
there are no blind alleys.

We must face each step
weighted with our pain
our memories, our loss.
No signs are on the twisting,
circling and
returning pathways.
For those seeking a shortcut,
a faster and less painful
way through,
there is only compromise
of the living Self
dying a little at a time
in order to avoid the ache.
We use our society’s addictions:
drugs, abuse,
mind-numbing media
beating us with
brickbats of nonsense.
In choosing this direction,
we never reach the
resolution of our agony,
prolonging the dying
of our own spirit
little by little.

Each of us must find our way
on this grief road.
Irony: there is no getting over,
no true ending,
just learning to live
with loss as the twists
and turns of the warren
change under our feet.
We cannot control
the direction.

Sometimes we look down
and with heart’s gladness
see the images of our lost ones
reflected back from
the shiny, day-reflecting stone
gifts of memory and presence
that touch our lives.
I climb the curving
gravel mountain road
where my sister left this world
A goldfinch, all yellow and black,
alights close by on the tree
of my recollection,
staying near for so long
pipes deep comfort
with its song,
a nearness of siblings.


Every trip round the maze
becomes a little easier
to bear. We say
the Serenity Prayer
ten times a day
and try to apply it
to our lives.
May we walk the way
of healing and peace,
taking it back to the world
from our quest.