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Photo Credit: David Allen and Stone Point Studio

Memorial Day 2020 COVID-19

I wrote this poem yesterday. I offer it, in case it touches you, and your greif today.

Amma Thanasanti

Greif Ritual

All of us who have lost loved ones,

Health

Homes,

Livelihood,

The world we recognize;

Basic Trust

We come together,

Strangers to each other;

Enter a space

Consecrated with prayers,

Mantras

The ache, the anger, the rage, the disorientation, the brain fog, the dissolution of dreams and purpose, the heart break, the tears that never stop, the tunnel without end; not having a future, disbelief, the endless fatigue, and hopelessness; Not being able to figure it out. Anxiety.

No one here is a stranger to grief.

Alter

Created from what we have lost

Greif framed-

Touch what is here,

Enter the territory

Voice grief

Give heart break sound

Watch the healing.

Agreements

Feel supports already present;

Earth,

Sky,

Ancestors

Animals

Accentuate Holding

Old Growth Redwoods, ecosystem of sharing; breathing together,

What you breathe out, I breathe in,

What I breathe out, you breathe in

Tidbits of identity,

We hover

Trying to land with each other.

Letting “I remember” catch our heart, speak through our body as memories spill out

Pausing to listen,

Witness each other

Songs

I am so sad and everything is beautiful

Taking a deeper dive into stories

Paint Grief’s picture

Sharing what matters most

Weaving Fabric of connection

Letting memories,

Open up the stream:

• • • I am so sad
    • I lost
    • I never said
    • I regret
    • It is not ok
    • I am afraid
    • I never had

All day

Open the field

Stay in deep water

Tend

Grief,

Group cohesiveness.

Evening

We enter the ritual;

Drummers hold the heart beat

Villagers keep the chant alive

Grievers walk to the alter

Ally joins as support

as presence

as witness

Grievers

Bear witness to all that has been lost

Heartbreak voiced;

Wailing, crying, shouting, screaming, moaning, roaring.

Tears and tissues,

As sacred offerings

It takes courage to

Enter deep water

Open grief

Return

Come back into the fold.

The village,

Attuned,

Embracing

Voicing;

We see you,

You did that well,

Thank you for what you have done.

Melting back into the village;

Chant and drumming continue

Until last wail is wailed,

Last roar, roared,

Last tear shed.

Integration and sharing

Closes the circle

Tear stained faces;

Flush,

Lighter,

Luminous.

On the other side of grief mountain,

Gratitude speaks

Numb bodies back on line

Vacancy filled with presence,

Pain body released.

Together

We move through grief;

Too big for any of us to hold alone.