She came to my house, still fresh from her loss
To quietly sit shiva with me
A friend from way back, no worry about tact
We shared sadness and raw honesty

She listened quite well as I poured out my heart
She teared up as I shed my tears
Then she taught me about loss and she reminded me about life
And she helped me assuage my deep fears

When I discounted my loss, because no tragedy occurred
She wagged her finger right there in my face
Saying “Each loss is unique, ‘cause it’s yours, don’t you think”
She gave me permission to mourn in my space

Old friends have a way, to find the right way
To say the hard things that we need to hear
Like “It’ll worsen, this pain” and “You’ll get through it again”
And “I’m here, you got nothing to fear.”

 

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Explore more poetry about mourning Papa (my dad, Ken Kipnes).

Watch my videos about mourning

Enjoy more of my spoken word poetry