You Don’t Get to Say When

Grief has no timeline.

“You should be over it by now,” you say,

So gently, like there’s a kinder way

Like if you soften how the words are said,

They won’t still echo loudly in my head

---

I know you mean no harm - I truly do,

But grief is not a thing I choose to lose

It isn’t something I can leave behind,

Or tuck away when it crosses my mind

---

Some days I’m soft - I smile, I laugh, I stay,

I find small pieces of a lighter day

And you might think that means I’ve made it through,

That healing looks the same to you

---

But then there’s days it hits without a sound,

A missing piece in everything around

A quiet break no one can ever see,

Because it doesn’t look like misery

---

And somewhere in between those highs and lows,

A quiet kind of anger starts to grow

Not loud, not sharp… just tired of defending,

A love that didn’t end just because theirs ended

---

So hear me now, though I won’t shout it loud:

Grief doesn’t fade to make the living proud

It shifts, it bends, it settles in somehow,

But don’t tell me I should be “over it” now

---

If you enjoyed this poem, please check out more work from myself, and others, at www.chaoticrambling.com

I would love for you to check out my recently published book, “Between Then and Now”, a collection of 60 poems written between the ages of 15 and 39, it’s currently being sold at Amazon. It’s also available on kindle unlimited.

Stay tuned for my book “Between Now and Hope.” It will be released sometime during the month of April. It’s a collection of poems that focus on making this world a better place.

Thank you for taking the time to read my words.