Winter Grief (Excerpt)

David Whyte

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