The Shadow Of Grief • Clarissa R. West

The Shadow Of Grief – A Mother’s Cry

The shadow of grief follows me,
It never lets me go.

Sometimes the shadow covers me completely,
no sunshine is in sight.

Only gray and dark and cloudiness,
everywhere I look.

Sometimes rain accompanies it
and I cannot escape its misery.

Other times, the sun shines brightly,
and the shadow is plainly seen.

Its outline is there, in the midst of the light,
a constant reminder of what I have lost.

When I face directly into the sun’s rays,
I forget the shadow behind me.

Then, all too soon, I turn around,
and the darkness greets me again.

It is like an imaginary friend,
except I am not imagining it,
and it is definitely not my friend.

Like an imaginary friend that I have outgrown,
I am embarrassed to bring it up.

However, a few have met it
and know that I am not making it up.

I’ve met others with similar shadows,
each with its own unique shape.

They are dragged behind, above,
and sometimes within us…
mothers who grieve.

– Clarissa R. West, 2015