Given Away

Given Away


I have floundered the past several months.
Like a bird with a broken wing
or fish on the shore, I was lost,
unsure of so much. A good friend,
a sort of mom, my brother...
all passed into tomorrow -
no longer here to touch
or talk to. No longer within reach.
I felt lost without them.

A dear friend found his life
upended perhaps, or had
received from me all he needed.
He is happy, I hope. But I miss him, too.
He was a rock, a joy, my muse,
and so very special. He, too, leaves
such a hole behind him. My world
is darker without his shimmer.

I was going through a trunk
of things --bits and pieces
of my family going back generations.
I found a letter my grandmother
wrote me a long time ago.
In it, she said that love wasn't love
until you gave it away.
I hope they all know how much
they were, and are, loved.