19 Comments

"and try

to remember what it

always meant to be kin."

YES. Thank you.

One of my grief poems from yesterday:

Grief Poem III

Today all my friends are talking

about tending to their gardens, digging

in the soil with the sun on their skin,

caring for the local, the good earth,

the growth. Yes. Yes. And still, today

my garden is full of death: tall husks

of zinnia stems, withered nasturtium,

meek basil shocked after the loss

of summer's gentleness. The violets

huddle, still vibrant, but they shouldn't:

as much as I love them, November sixth

is too late to go without harder frost

and snow, marks of the goodness of a climate

that hasn’t lost its way.

What I'm saying is that some

of what's here today probably shouldn't

be, and it's not a kindness not to tell

the truth. These challenges aren't new.

And still, we mourn the loss of what is gone.

What I'm saying is I won't dig in any dirt

today, but I might pull up all the stalks

of what has no more joy to give.

Folks are talking about patience

and gentleness and yes. Yes. We will

find peace again. We'll find it through

a fight that will take every once of self-

control we have, because to grow

some new fruit from these seeds, to

welcome afresh the seasons and the

goodness of the land, we will need to

be so full of love that it fills our lungs

like breath: air: life:

the meek-fierce winds of change.

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author

Oh thank you so much for sharing this with us. I’ve been feeling this kind of grief too.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

Thank you, Kaitlin, and I hope all of us can take as much time to grieve as we need and remember that it’s OK not to have the words 🖤

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

Thank You for inviting us to listen to the Wisdom that our Sorrow wants to teach us. It truly is a time to be still, to nourish our soul and to allow Spirit to guide us into what is next. Thank You for sharing your exquisite poem.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

This is the most beautiful poem. Thank you so much for sharing it!

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

In gratitude for your heart, wisdom and words.

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Thank you so much for these words, Kaitlin. So grateful for you my friend! I have been going back and forth between exhaustion/dissociation and deep cleaning this week. There has to be a metaphor in there somewhere. Love you all.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

Holding space feels right. It’s a lot to process. I also appreciate the idea of ‘onward’, not necessarily as a call to march, but as encouragement not to stay in this place forever. Thank you.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

I love your poem. And yes, let's take the time we need. Doing the deep work matters. Art matters. Thank you for your depth and presence.

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Thank you for this thoughtful and timely writing, Kaitlin. Thank you for the reminder to take the time, to move onward and to reflect on what we are moving towards. And your poem is marvelous, and invoking that lovely Rumi poem brings me hope. Thank you for your wise and living heart. 🙏🏻💛💙

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author

Thank you Larry!

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

I felt your words deeply; thank you for them!

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Thanks Kaitlin for your words today. And your poem speaks louder than the words. They popped off the page and went directly to my heart.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

Thanks for eloquently speaking what I have been referring to as doing the next thing. It’s all I can do right now.

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Nov 7Liked by Kaitlin Curtice

Thank you, Kaitlin. Onward....on breath at a time.

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Thank you for the reminder of the power our words hold. I am stretching time with you, eyes fixed on that field of kinship.

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author

♥️♥️♥️

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Thank you as always for your words and for providing a space where we can grieve, laugh, love, and learn together.

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Onward is a mantra I say all this time as well. I feel that pull to have something to move to, a purpose. And I take your point that to move forward we need to take care first to feed ourselves and fortify our souls so that we don’t run blindly outward without purpose. This is the lesson of this part of my life and I’m working to get there. Thank you for your thoughtful words.

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