Hello, sadness

Source

Jo-Anne wrote this poem when she turned forty. One of those landmark events that remind us (as if we’ve ever forgotten) what we’ve missed and who is not with us to celebrate or observe.

Hello sadness, my old friend,
An eleven years with no real end,
Like shadows creeping in the night,
You haunt my dreams, you hold me tight.

At forty, I stand, often weary and worn,
With memories of a child, once stillborn.
Your grip on me, it knows no end,
As I navigate this life, around each new bend.

In the darkness, you whisper low,
Of dreams that withered so long ago.
Your presence, heavy, dark, and deep,
In my soul, you sow and reap.

Forty years, a lifetime I've lived,
Loved and mourned, but carried on.
A mother's grief, a silent cry,
Echoes through the years gone by.

But in the depths of this despair,
I find a flicker, a light, a flare.
For though you linger, dark and grim,
Love's eternal flame will never dim.

So here I stand, amidst the pain,
Embracing loss, embracing gain.
For in the depths of sorrow's hold,
I find the strength to still be bold.

Hello sadness, my constant guide,
In you, I'll never hide.
For though you weigh me down, it's true,
I'll rise again, I'll see it through.