22/11/2023
The Grief at the Table Where You Used to Be
The holiday season,
it snuck up on me
and along with it
a most silent and weighty grief.
Quietly, it settles in
and pulls up a seat
makes itself comfortable in
the spot where you used to be.
But all the same
I acknowledge it
I sit with it today,
on this milestone, this heavy holiday.
Can you pass the gravy?
and maybe a cherished memory?
Let the laughter flow
or let the tears fall freely?
Today can be whatever we need it to be.
Because there’s nothing normal
about a holiday without you
so I will lament and I will ache,
mingle with the grief and gratitude,
With the love and the loss,
painful firsts, mournful lasts.
a year that reminds us
of time gone much too fast.
Because the grief sits
at the table where you used to be,
but your love helps me through it
and keeps me company.
And no matter what it brings
to the table, I’ll take my seat,
I’ll face it, I’ll feel it
In honor of your memory.
-Liz Newman
