The Necessity of Grief

take your time
in the crucible
of grief...

yield fully
to its holy mystery;

its fire,
its ice,
its unrelenting honesty,

its gifts, ten thousand fold...

trust the cadence,
the nuance,
the bitter sweetness…

invite its solemn ache
to inhabit requisite space
in the mansion of your soul;

walk hand-in-hand in the garden
with this deeply gentle guide,
sans expectation of parting;

into the somber fields;

the hallowed grounds
of loss
and grace
and longing;

where the bones of what once was
come to rest

in the indigenous divinity of a heart
cracked wide open...

in this communion
you are not alone.

offer yourself
to this territory
of surrender;

where anguish reigns,
and sorrow wears a crown…

where you lay yourself naked
upon the altar of despair;

penning amaranthine love letters
with benevolent ink;
addressed to cosmic caretakers;

piercing the veil of sadness,

coming to rest
in the medicinal beauty
at the center of the dark labyrinth;

where harshness pales,
giving way to a new depth
of softness...

I promise you,
there is a fountain of love
inside it all...

acquiesce

to the
necessity
of grief…

sacred thread words & image © heather rhodes at studio petronella
no use or reproduction of any kind
model: emily
studiopetronella.com