Because I do not know

any medicine for grief

but to let ourselves

grieve.

Because I do not know

any cure for sorrow

but to let ourselves

sorrow.

Because I do not know

any remedy

but to let the heart break,

to let it fall open, then

to let it fall open

still more.

Because I do not know

how to mend

the unmendable,

unfixable,

unhealable wound

that keeps finding

itself healed

as we tend it,

as we follow

the line of it,

as we let it lead us

on the path

it knows.

Because I do not know

any solace

but to give ourselves

into the love

that will never cease

to find us,

that will never loose

its hold on us,

that will never abandon us

to the sorrow

for which it holds

the cure.

From The Cure for Sorrow: A book of blessings for times of grief by Jan Richardson