Poetry from the heart

I’ve always loved poetry.

There’s something incredible about just how much can be conveyed within so few lines.

Last week I bought Kate Clanchy’s new book, How to Grow Your Own Poem, and immediately started writing.

Then, this week, three friends shared emotional social media posts on the pain of losing their mum.

My own mother died in 2006 and the struggle they described is a path I know only too well.

I wanted to help. To ease their load a little. As I reflected on what I’ve learned about loss, a string of sentences gathered in my mind. As words fluttered around my brain like butterflies, I sat in my car in a supermarket car park and jotted them down, before editing them when I got home.

There’s something about sharing personal experience that feels a little risky, but I’m so glad I did. The more I thought about it afterwards the more friends I called to mind who have experienced huge losses in their lives and I really feel for them.

I believe words have the power to help and to heal. Here’s my poem, below, on grief.

If you’re struggling with loss, I hope it gives you a beacon of hope. Sometimes we all need a twinkling lighthouse in the distance to shine a little light on life’s bumpy journeys.

Things will get better with time, I promise.

Time does heal.

Sharp edges of anguish
Do soften.

We may not believe it
During the rawness
Of grief.

But like broken glass
Softened into smoothness
By the sea

Our waves of sorrow
That can feel like drowning
Will subside -
Revealing a healing heart.

Just as a storm
Cannot go on forever
Great rain clouds of rage
And sadness

Will one day give way
To a smile
At the precious memories
Shared so long ago.

As the years roll along
Grief gives way
To gratitude
For the treasured time
That once sparkled with joy.

For love
Is never lost
Only polished
Until the best memories
Shine bright.

Like a diamond
Glittering and scattering rainbows
In the sunlight.