These Days a Holding
Not fixing or solving or advising
or spilling
eager ‘make it all better’
unintentionally imposing onto
others, oneself
shame for feeling
all of the all
These days a holding
relinquish
making others feel fine so you can feel fine;
abandon
the dismissal of sorrow
make more and more room for holding
sorrow, despair, grief, anguish;
Learn to do this kind of
holding
better, safer, braver;
Ask others to hold
you
let them know
you are not seeking solutions
but a holding
for
This shit is hard
This shit is fucked up
This shit is senseless and sense-full
This shit is sad and sorrow full.
a 35 year old brother with cancer
an old high school friend dead in his sleep
a friend/colleague charged with four counts of sexual assault
Sisters dealing with deep heart ache:
breakups,
babies denied,
jobs wished for but never gotten;
daughters doubled with anxiety
mothers weeping alone in empty houses
These days a holding
maureen st.clair
Sculptures by Suse Ellen Lowenstein (from Dark Elegy)