Words for Shiva

sunbeams coming through the fog in the forest
Thousands upon thousands
exist in every language.
 
But never enough
in the right sequence
when a loved one dies.
 
There are no words
to make loss smaller
than the sea stretching
beyond the horizon.
 
To absorb the rays
of an eclipsed sun.
 
To bring in the dawn
before the night has passed.
 
No words will lift
the black cloth
that drapes you now.
 
I offer instead
my presence.
 
To sit beside you
until you find the words
you need to speak.

 

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