Grief in its corner

Maria posted this poem recently. I am putting it here for the sake of my friend Mrs. Bread and anyone else who is dealing with a loss. Whatever person or gift or intangible that has been taken from us, the reality of it needs to be faced and known in the light of the goodness of God — even in the presence of God. May all our hurts bring us to Him, and may we experience the comfort St. Paul writes about in II Corinthians:

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

TALKING TO GRIEF

Ah, Grief, I should not treat you

like a homeless dog

who comes to the back door

for a crust, for a meatless bone.

I should trust you.

I should coax you

into the house and give you

your own corner,

a worn mat to lie on,

your own water dish.

You think I don’t know you’ve been living

under my porch.

You long for your real place to be readied

before winter comes. You need

your name,

your collar and tag. You need

the right to warn off intruders,

to consider

my house as your own

and me your person

and yourself

my own dog.

~ Denise Levertov (1923-1977), English-born American poet

7 thoughts on “Grief in its corner”

beautiful poem. thank you. was thinking of you today and praying as I walked down my street on this sunny day in Ottawa.

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That is a powerful poem.

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Love this poem.

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Denise Levertov is one of my favorites.

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Really awesome poem! Just found your site, thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Thank you, dear Gretchen. when we fear the Lord, he is our Sanctuary…from Isaiah chapter 8

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Enjoyed the latest blog and then browsed your tags. Grief…two funerals in as many weeks, wonderful move but old friends and children far away. Loved Sr. Joyce Rupp's book, Praying Our Goodbyes. Had planned to blog about this next. So glad that I encountered this post. Giving space to grief, an unedited life…God indwelling. Thank you.

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