Loss Everpresent

Grief makes spirals in my life. I look and see it in the curve of my cat’s sleeping form, in the downy slopes of my son’s ear, in the whorl of my own thumbprint–all reminiscent of shapes and forms in those who are gone. In my own feverish state of ridiculous self-pity, alternating between checking my temperature and checking the room’s temperature, I feel its oppressive weight.

I awaken alone, but with the knowledge that my dream life was populated by friends and acquaintances. The echoes of their conversation make sound spirals within my thoughts. I am reminded not to dwell on the loss, but to…