Leaving

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Leaving and being left is such a painful part of life that it’s hard to make sense of its place in a living Universe. This poem is one attempt.

Leaving

How hard it is to leave or be

left. Sending someone away

because violence is near. Or

selling all you have so a child

might have a ticket to a better

life. Or those torn from each

other because the ship could

hold no more. Or inexplicably

when the love is gone. Or some

strange need has awakened after

years and one of you must try

again to be what you failed to be.

Yet what if, when all alone, we

open a letter, addressed to who

we are under everything, that says:

beyond our pain, each gasp of

parting pollinates the world with

what the heart releases when it

feels the most. This sharp honey

keeps the world from falling.

It doesn’t make it easier. I

still can’t bear to think of

losing you. But nor can the

clouds bear to lose their rain.

A Question to Walk With: Describe a time you were left and how that changed you. Describe a time when you did the leaving and how that changed you. Where do these lessons live in you?