Don’t Think I Do Not Grieve
by Brenda Penepent
Don’t think I do not feel;
because you see no tears.
A river rages deep inside
of grief, and loss, and fears.
Just because I do not cry now,
don’t think my heart’s not broken.
I keep inside the misery
of words not to be spoken.
Sometimes I smile, or crack a joke,
so you won’t see the pain;
or notice how my hands will shake,
or how I’ve gone insane.
Each time I chance to think of her,
my heart is ripped asunder.
The loss I feel is mine alone.
you will not see my thunder.
D.J. Enright – On the Death of a Child
The greatest griefs shall find themselves
Inside the smallest cage.
It’s only then that we can hope to tame
Their rage,
The monsters we must live with. For it
Will not do
To hiss humanity because one human threw
Us out of heart and home. Or part
At odds with life because one baby failed
To live.
Indeed, as little as its subject, is
The wreath we give –
The big words fail to fit. Like giant boxes
Round small bodies. Taking up improper room,
Where so much withering is, and so much bloom.