Grief Grace

widow is a word
full up with grief
   loss and  disbelief
unwanted knowledge
excess feeling couples
            cruel paradox
with numb void
leaves the Widow Wyile acutely
aware of yet curiously
apart from routines
widow is full of now
through which courses
then
widow is a word
you must with grace
learn to inhabit

a sour and bitter state
that could well be all
about the loss of
some                sweet
            one                  thing
but to live it well
and to bear it all
you must aspire to cherish
your own bared
            self
honouring
trusting
the truth of
what was and now
is
patching what parts
of the empty that
you can
smile your grief
love its depths
and still
be true to you and your
word
within
world

without