Category: Grief

• If

  If I could take away thoseTwo deep lines betweenYour brows I would You lie thereIn your pink uniformDreaming harried dreams Playing out all the dramaYou’ve lived on In vivid technicolor I sit hereUnwilling to wake youFrom your restful stupor How much rest have you reallyHad all these years? When will you sleepWithout those Creases betweenYour […]

  October 23, 2022

  acceptance, cancer, communication, dementia, Family dynamics, Gender roles, Grief, life, mother and child relationship, self-knowledge, Time

• Who Are You?

  This poem is about my father who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2015. He died within 6 weeks of his diagnosis. After announcing his condition through email, he refused to see anyone for two whole weeks. He was a very independent and proud man who wanted to take care of business before letting people in. This poem captures the last moments I had with him and how I’ve tried to negotiate my relationship with him over the years, especially towards the end of his life, and even in the here and now.

  February 6, 2022

  abuse, acceptance, anger, Approval, childhood, Childhood trauma, communication, Family dynamics, Gender roles, Grief, Healing, inconvenient truths, Love, Marriage, memories, Morality, Relationship, self-knowledge, soul, speaking up, story-telling, Time, vulnerable

• Regret

  “Do you regret marrying Dad”I ventureWondering if she knowsWhy I ask “No, I don’t regret it” There is a pregnant pauseA naked silence “Why not?”I ask, undeterred “I don’t believe in the word regret” she offers Meanwhile,My brain is busy decodingwhat she’s saying “It doesn’t matter what you believe, but the wordexists mom”I mutter in […]

  January 14, 2022

  acceptance, communication, dementia, Family, Family dynamics, Grief, Healing, Home, Imagination, life, Love, Marriage, memories, mindfulness, mother and child relationship, self-knowledge