To Suffer is to Know
Many a good soul hath said to me that they “understand my loss”
That they have learned from a ‘lesson given’ that death is not the end
So why then after the time ‘allowed’ do I still remain so bowed?
To them I say,” to suffer is to know”, and do you know?
If they ‘knew’, it would be a ‘different’ place for them
On this side of the line they would then stand with me
They then would really know what its like for us,
Their statements they would moderate
‘Come’ I say, and suffer as I do, now what allowance do you give?
Do you know this place to which you’ve come?
Sadly, only loss, the death of others is the ticket to this space
Stand upon it, if you dare, and leave a vacant place.
This loss so great that nothing can escape
There is no ‘set time’ as they would wish
To be my friend, then mourn with me
Support me in my fate, never to forget the loss of love
For love so lost can never be replaced
No time can mend this bridge
It is not ‘I’ who is no more
But love itself, in the one that is not upon this shore
No more can that love create the scene
To which I remedy my life,
To suffer such is everything
To suffer is to Know
(2007)
After the death of my son it appeared to me that many people had a false understanding of what true grief was all about, they offer sympathy but do not, cannot, really know unless they too have suffered. I don't want them to be in this place and I understand their fear of it....
