and because
the well is so deep
and we are all
so thirsty.

I grieve
for my mother,
who lost her soul
before she lost her mind,
and for my father
who stumbled and fell
before losing his way home
in the dark

and

I grieve

for my children
because
they could not
have known,

and because
they never will.

And I grieve
the end
of second chances

and the extinction
of forever.

I grieve because
the sky
is shriveling
in its skin,

and because

I know what
I cannot know,

and can never tell

And because
no one
would believe me
anyway.

I grieve
because tears
are more potent
than words

and words
are all I have left.

And because
nothing will ever be
the same

and because
nothing
ever was.

And …

I grieve
the ebbing
of wonder

and the vanishing
shades of green
and blue

and the father
who never
knew

and who
never will
know

Why.