Unknown 2 Poem by Theresa Goertz

if we're lucky
we're given a warning,
if not
there's the sudden horror,
the wrench of being torn apart.
of being reminded that nothing's permanent,
not even the ones we love,
the ones our lives revolve around.
life's a fragile affair.
we're all standing on the edge of a cliff,
a dizzying cliff so high,
we can't see the bottom.
one by one we lose those we love most,
into the dark ravine.
so we must cherish them without reservation.
now.
today.
this minute.
we'll lose them or they'll lose us someday.
this is certan.
there's no time for arguing.
their loss will leave a great pit in our hearts.
a pit we struggle to avoid during the day and into at night.
some, unable to accept a life without them jump into that pit spiritually or physiaclly; hoping to find them there.
and some survive,
the shock,
the denial,
the bargaining,
the barren empty aching,
the unanswered prayers,
the sleepless nights when their breath is crushed under the weight of silence and all that it means.
some somehow survive all that and, like a flower after a storm, they slowly begin to remember the one they lost in a different way...
the laughter,
the irrepressable spirit,
the generous heart,
the way their smile made them feel,
the encouragement they gave even as their own dreams were dying.
and in time,
they fill the pit with other memories,
the only memories that matter.
we'll still cry.
we'll always cry;
but with loving reflaction
more than hopless longing.
that's how we survive.
that's how the story should end.
that's how they'd want it to be.