Grief

 ~Grief~

You feel rather than see something dart into the ixora bush. You look closer and spot a munia. No, a pair of munias. What are two munias doing there? Are they planning to build a nest? Your father would love to know about them. You want to call and tell him. But he is no longer here; hasn’t been for nearly two decades. Grief overwhelms you. You can barely function for the next few hours.

They tell you that time heals. That grief goes away. They lie.

Grief never goes away. Time doesn’t heal. All that happens is that you grow around the grief. You learn to copy. You learn to tuck away your memories in that closed room you barely enter. But sometimes, when you are least expecting it, the winds blows the door open and the memories come tumbling out. You are overcome with grief. All over again.

You wish that someday grief would leave you. But do you really wish that? Because what is grief if not the other side of love? You can only grieve someone who you have loved fiercely, and that love is always worthwhile.

Keep those you have loved close to your heart. Remember them. Grieve them. Let yourself be engulfed in sadness. They are you, you are them.

And perhaps someday someone will grieve you too.

For I am grief, and grief is you.

[Modified from a letter that Grief wrote to me as a part of a eleven day letter writing challenge.]