I stand up

I stand up, raise my hands
to the heavens, and declare,

“I love you. I forgive you. I release you.”

I’m steadfast now in my intention
to stop clinging to my dead husband,
to let his soul go in peace.

I feel a surge of incredible energy
gathering all over my body.
Rising from my toes, it coalesces
into a kind of lump, as if I had
something in my body that’s not mine.

This energy surges, tingling, up through
my body and out through my head.
And then the energy is gone.
His soul has been freed.

Aurora Winter