The Many Faces Of Grief Poem by Antoinette Kopperfield

You think you have it all together
then one day it hits you
like a rugged seacliff
with crashing waves.

It is a sound that is soothing, yet uncertain-
like a symphony with the clanging of cymbols
that never stops
like a train moving backward
in the wrong direction.

It is my choice to remember
your love and caresses.
For it is a longing never replaced
by another's arms
and words spoken by you-
are still heard
as though yesterday and today
merged for just a moment
while my mind
hung onto your body
and never let go.

Eternity separated our hearts
and tears flooded my eyes
as though that
would bring you back.

But if reality is only an illusion
then how can I be with you?

Oh, if you could only show me the way.

I imagine you somewhere in the sky, or
on the other side of a door
that I cannot open.
Unless I too, were to succumb
to life's challenges
and give up on my dreams.

But then again,
they would never be able to wake me.

.