Spent today in NYC at the Buddhist Zendo. One of our topics for study today was anticipatory grief. It's how we rehearse or prepare ourselves for an event: the death of someone or a loved one who is very ill, possibly our own death. One of the exercises was to write a poem in 15 minutes and then read it out loud. The topic of the poem was: What Am I Afraid To Lose? Here's mine:
Sitting here safe, warm and full with beautiful people.
What am I afraid to lose?
Projecting thoughts of gloom and doom.
What am I afraid to lose?
Looking back at things long gone.
What am I afraid to lose?
A functioning body and dreams unfulfilled,
Memories and cognitive skills.
To know you are there with no words spoken,
Lying here, promises unbroken.
What am I afraid to lose?
To share my thoughts, to pick and choose.
To be in the kitchen, not the dying room.
What am I afraid to lose?
beautiful, thoughtful, brave... thank you
ReplyDeletevery good poem
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