sadness doesn’t have to be everything
or the greatest part of anything in this world.
you needn’t be overwhelmed
by the passing of days
or the movement of blackbirds in winter.
wherever there flies a congregation of darkness,
the raucous din of grackles palling over
your still place in the gray-blue snowbank,
you can find a lesson.
if time passes over you
like murmurations, uncountable,
then surely you can feel you are alive.
in the sadness of your breath,
you can know how cold the snow is,
witness the darkness of clouded birds overhead
& the flashes of sweet light between them.
you can know this life
& the death that falls next to you
doesn’t have to be a betrayal,
but is a solid gift to you,
an affirmation of your breathing
& you will understand your place in this world
when you are ready to rise.
~~~
