still, we love
grief is messy and beautiful
terrible and sacred
it is a companion and a thief
a friend who holds your hand
and a foe who steals your breath
it is rage that burns in silence
and sorrow that echoes in your bones
it is joy wrapped in memory
light breaking through the cracks
it is shadowed and infinite
a chasm and a cradle
it is the lump in your throat
the breath you hold
the tears you let fall
and the ones you don’t
grief is love with nowhere to go
it exists because they were love
because we are love
still, always, endlessly
~ andrea johnson beck
photo credit: K. Mitch Hodge
Beautiful way to describe the messiness and contradictions of grief 🥲