We can only hope to be changes in perspective for those we love...

We can only hope to be changes in perspective for those we love
As they lie in their cradles
As they lie in our laps
As they lie in their graves
Our loved ones lie deeply within us
Casting their light as our poetry now
As we sink deeper into their shadowed darkness
Navigating our reasons for living
For loving
For breathing
It is inevitable to feel released from contact with the world
When loved ones lose their own
As lives slow to a stop
We inevitably will grasp for footholds into the places where we last left them •

Death... is never easy. And I believe it will never become so. When we lose the bodies of those we love, we have to learn to accept that this is the last time we will ever feel their corporeal warmth. There may be an afterlife — none of us really knows, if we are honest with ourselves. We must become more fond of our memories than we are with our loved ones, now.

I lost my grandfather back in September, to an incurable cancer. I cried at the foot of his hospital bed, as I shared that it is not so much his impending death that saddened me, rather, it is that I knew I would miss him. And, I do. I had to accept that he was at the end of his journey, while I was just getting started. We met somewhere in between. And it was a blessed meeting for me, and I hope for him. I am never selfish with my words of admiration and endearment to those I love. So, I know that he knew I loved him. I can only hope now, that if there is an afterlife, that my material love has transcended the firmament along with him. •

Poem from my upcoming book, Ether & Toil, still in the works
© Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq Publishing
Follow @AishaTariqa for more original poetry and inspirational •

Ether & Toil is not yet available but click the button below for my first two books of poetry. •