Grief and sadness right up in my face
Seeing another’s deep, heart shredded pain.
So easy to try and sidestep.
So easy to be hoodwinked
by the sun on the sea,
by the fresh-washed blue sky.
But the phone calls grab us back,
push us into the uncertainties of life,
of pain and suffering,
that hover beneath the veneer of happiness.
How would I cope in their shoes?
How would I manage these world-shattering
bombshells of tragic news and loss?
Denying the anticipated,
trajectory of long life.
Removing expected opportunity.
And where to place this other’s,
and my own grief,
in the daily humdrum?
Which compartment drawer
in this chest of life?
Jos Hadfield 2015
Grief and sadness right up in my face.