At the request of family the piece read at the Open Mic has been removed from this site.
 In its place is a less personal, more universal one on the insufferable process of grief.
A subject I know all too well.

The Dark &Winding Path
by Lori Kearney
 

Grief is a winding road fraught with emotional landmines
Good intentions misconstrued
Bad timing
Unspoken words
Mixed emotions
Shock
Anger
Heart Break

Treading lightly is near impossible 

It is painful to witness
Unbearable to be in the depths of
It is exhausting
Alienating
A dark tunnel we think we will never get through
A painful reminder of how small we are
Of the limit on our time here
A reminder we are not in charge of anything not even our emotions in these raw moments 

No salve to ease the pain 

Grief brings out the angels and devils in us
At first, kindness and comfort surrounds us like a blanket
Shock should be the great anesthetic – but anger bubbles just below its surface
Ready to boil over without warning
Like a poisonous snake it strikes at random and at the pain
It deconstructs the sanest person
Makes us question all our beliefs and reasons for living
It covers the sadness too deep for anyone to want to dwell in too long

 No way to escape the Gordian knot of grief

 It seems like forever
Like this is how it will be from now on
Unable to see that it is a temporary address
We do adapt – some better than others
Some take on great causes to beat grief at its own game
Some take small steps,
Slowly working their way down the winding road
Back to the light of day – but never looking at it quite the same way again