The Thing Is
The Thing Is
to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you've held dearcrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,your throat filled with the silt of it.When grief sits with you, its tropical heatthickening the air, heavy as watermore fit for gills than lungs;when grief weights you like your own fleshonly more of it, an obesity of grief,you think, How can a body withstand this?Then you hold life like a facebetween your palms, a plain face,no charming smile, no violet eyes,and you say, yes, I will take youI will love you, again.
by Ellen Bass
via the Writer's Almanac, NPR
to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you've held dearcrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,your throat filled with the silt of it.When grief sits with you, its tropical heatthickening the air, heavy as watermore fit for gills than lungs;when grief weights you like your own fleshonly more of it, an obesity of grief,you think, How can a body withstand this?Then you hold life like a facebetween your palms, a plain face,no charming smile, no violet eyes,and you say, yes, I will take youI will love you, again.
by Ellen Bass
via the Writer's Almanac, NPR
Replies
That is so beautiful..thank you for sharing..wow!
Yes - thank you. It expresses how I feel. I long for the life I loved before December 1, 2009. I am trying fo love life again but it is not, nor will it ever be, as beautiful as it used to be.
Thanks for this gift. The \"the obesity of grief,\" how expressive that is. But, too, the will to live and love life again. I haven\'t seen anything from Ellen Bass for years. I had a poetry workshop with her way back in the early 70s (my goodness, nearly 40 years ago!). I\'ll google her now so I can find more. Love Linda
I was just thinking last night about the million pound weight that I hauled around for at least nine months after Corrie was killed. I still don\'t know if it has gotten lighter or if I\'ve gotten used to it.
Thanks for sharing this poem ~ I also love the phrase \"the obesity of grief\".
Sending love and grateful hugs ~ Debbie
Thank you for sharing this. It is both beautiful and sad. I like how she compares our new life to a face without obvious beauty but we will take it anyway and love it nonetheless. It is all we have now. The phrase \"the obesity of grief\" calls to mind something that I read in a book. It said that if a person had suffered physical ailments comparable to the emotional ones of losing a child, they would be in ICU.
Oh how beautiful and true! the obesity of grief, it\'s just brilliant. Who is this poet? do you know anything more of her? I used to write and it kills me to read something so perfect.
yes, that is what I want to do, how stunningly put....
OMG....that is amazing. How do poets do it? As I get older I respect and admire and even understand poetry better. This is such a beautiful way to encapsulate what we all feel....Thank you so much for sharing this. Anne
This poet expresses our thoughts and our pain so well - wondering if this poem was written from a personal experience? No matter, the words are clearly written and easily understood. The pain is real and weighs heavily on our shoulders. May we all share this weight and make it lighter for each other to carry.