loss

Growing up is about coping
letting things pass us by without tooooo much of a reaction
adapting to the changes of time

when we give things up it is an easy adjustment
the old favorite shirt, worn and weathered
can easily slip through the fingers into oblivion

the things that are taken from us are not so easily given up
when things are stolen from us we mourn as though someone
has ripped out our heart

when someone we care about is murdered
we live in shock, twanging like a rubber band
unable to return to center
until enough time has passed to quell the disbelief
and open the door for anger rage grief pain and mourning

natural disasters give us no one or nothing to vent our
anger upon
we stand facing nature
and bow to 'her' power
we feel the retching, the ripping at our hearts, the empty-ness
the sadness, the loss
the measure, the pain, the same
they are all, the same 
losses we have endured
pieces of our selves, removed
surgically eliminated
erased
eradicated
deleted
left is the void
we can not fill

and, at the same time,
we are flooded, with the scenes of the past
dancing into the present
placing us in the past with the present
showing us what we are missing, showing us what we had
reminding us of what is no longer there, never again to be here

there is no one who will hug us
no one to kiss away the hurt
no one to replace the loss
no one to erase the pain

we learn
that life is filled with losses
things that will be removed from us
whether by choice or not

we are FORCED, to adapt
to change
to loss
to pain
to sadness

we live another day
we remember
we remember the smiles
we remember the sadness
we remember that part of our lives
which has passed
never to return again