To Grieve in Other Verbs // Kimberly Grey
Tie the ribbon around yourself & see how long it holds. You are alive
& have just begun to wrestle. There are other ways to fly. You’re trying
to marry human & loss, trying to shape & peel the wound. Find a place
to house large things. The walrus lost its hands to evolution, so it taught
itself to roll. Now, you hover over the earth. You’re barely. The ground
did soften & forgive & still, you’re winter. There’s no shame in wanting
to be useful again. You yo-yo & furl. You dress in other people’s clothes.
And the light? It can not tell you from a hermit or horsefly. Today in
Manhattan, not a single person died. How’s that for hope? You must
understand the history of loss did not begin with you. You’ve got to spit
out this thing that you chew & chew. To hurt is a way to love, I thought
you knew.
& have just begun to wrestle. There are other ways to fly. You’re trying
to marry human & loss, trying to shape & peel the wound. Find a place
to house large things. The walrus lost its hands to evolution, so it taught
itself to roll. Now, you hover over the earth. You’re barely. The ground
did soften & forgive & still, you’re winter. There’s no shame in wanting
to be useful again. You yo-yo & furl. You dress in other people’s clothes.
And the light? It can not tell you from a hermit or horsefly. Today in
Manhattan, not a single person died. How’s that for hope? You must
understand the history of loss did not begin with you. You’ve got to spit
out this thing that you chew & chew. To hurt is a way to love, I thought
you knew.