The child sees the old man, whining and moaning.

“God!” he screams.

The neighbor feeds tiny creatures and humming birds

pass like angels before the window where grief makes a dark world.

Where does grief come from?

From over the mountain, high up on the other side, from the ones

We imagined being a life-source for ever who’ve left us.

Comes from a battle lost on fragile ground.

Silence deepens and darkens like shadows.

A small paper cut comes like all worst

Nightmares come, at a time

And in a normal place with nothing out of place.

My world is so noisy.

Mother covers her ears and hides her eyes

Below the neckline of a sweater woven at home.

Grief forms a personality, molds it, and takes over.

Nothing in the sky attracts grief.  It is too heavy.

Earth bound it lives among us.

The grief wail is not new.

Today, many things in a life

Cause grief to live close by.

Salmon know rocks, they are

A durable part of their DNA.

They also know hard concrete

As a dam that twists their spirit.

Go up the mountain, way above the river

Next to the source of a small spring.

Bathe handful by handful.

Greet the little ones living by your side.

Here, Earth and Heaven hum a celestial tune.