Let the rest
in this rested place.
rest for you.
Let the birds sing
and the geese call
and the sky race
from west to east
when you cannot raise
a wing to fly.
Let evening
trace your loss
in the stonework
against a fading sky.
So that
you can give up
and give in
and be given back to
so that you can let
winter
come and live
fully inside you,
so that
you can
retrace
the loving path
of heartbreak
that brought you here.
So you can cry alone
and be alone
to be lost,
so you can
let the one
you have lost
alone,
so that
you can let
the one
you have lost
have their
own life
and even
their own death
without you.
So the world
and everyone
who has ever lived
and ever died
can come and go
as they please.
So you can
let yourself
not know, what
not knowing
means.
So that
you can be
even more generous
in your letting go
than they
were
in their leaving.
So that you can
let winter
be winter.
So that you can let
the world alone
to think of spring.
—
From The Bell and The Blackbird
Copyright 2018 David Whyte