Seconds

often hard as firsts

equally jarring -- now we

proceed into thirds

'don't need reminding

that i feel out of place in

our home -- my own skin

so different now

the passage of time without

your voice...  eyes...  laughter...

there have been hard times

yet there are the better days

each bears its own gifts

i am still standing

obviously worse for wear

a little less shine

at last, reading more

it has shaken loose the words

nestled in my bones

missing you always

not just on the hardest days

good ones most of all

spring has come again

i will grow -- thrive -- with your last

words:  "I love you, too."

 

Onward & Upward,

"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound.
...
Anselmo sleeps, and is at Peace; last Night
The silent Tomb receiv'd the good Old King;
He and his Sorrows now are safely lodg'd
Within its cold, but hospitable Bosom.

..."

- William Congreve, The Mourning Bride