She starts off saying,
I’ve got these demons
That have been with me for so long
How do I kill them?
Mere heartbeats later
(Each one a footfall 'cross
Home's threshold
After ages' travel)
The realization:
They died long ago
And she’s been carrying
Their dried corpses.
Now she can start
To grieve
These lost friends.
I am a recipient of a grace alien to the way I once was. It’s not an abstract quality, it’s right there in my experience, like a sun in my midsection. The least I can do, in response, is attempt kindness and generosity as a default stance.
—Sasha Chapin