[Poetry Friday] Edward Hirsch on Grief and Mourning

Fats here.

My Poetry Friday offering this week goes out to a co-worker who is having a tough time dealing with her grandmother’s death. I forgot how long ago it has been since her grandma died. I know that it happened in December and I know that she’s still grieving years later.

I discovered the Edward Hirsch’s book, Gabriel, through our online catalog, while searching for random poetry books. Gabriel is a novella in verse that describes the life and death of Edward Hirsch’s son. The excerpt I’m sharing below is what struck me the most. Interestingly, those were the same exact verses shared on Edward Hirsch’s website.

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Lisa of Steps & Staircases, who also happens to post about grief this week.

I did not know the work of mourning
Is like carrying a bag of cement
Up a mountain at night

The mountaintop is not in sight
Because there is no mountaintop
Poor Sisyphus grief

I did not know I would struggle
Through a ragged underbrush
Without an upward path

Because there is no path
There is only a blunt rock
With a river to fall into

And Time with its medieval chambers
Time with its jagged edges
And blunt instruments

I did not know the work of mourning
Is a labor in the dark
We carry inside ourselves

Though sometimes when I sleep
I am with him again
And then I wake

Poor Sisyphus grief
I am not ready for your heaviness
Cemented to my body

Look closely and you will see
Almost everyone carrying bags
Of cement on their shoulders

That’s why it takes courage
To get out of bed in the morning
And climb into the day