The grace of grief

This year I danced deeply with grief. I know I’m not the only one And I’m seeing that grief and gratitude are inseparable. For me, gratitude is less a “practice”, and more of a spontaneous arising An awe and wonder as the heart opens And particularly when the heart is broken open As we let grief cleanse our hearts We uncover gratitude beneath, and even within the grief Gratitude is the grace that is bestowed When one is willing to feel fully To cry the uncried tears To give voice to the unspoken words To unleash the unexpressed rage To tenderly hold the silent heartbreak Layer upon layer Achingly, and patiently We taste the sweetness Because we’ve tasted the bitter These last weeks I’ve cried many tears of gratitude I’ve tasted them and relished their sweet saltiness I’ve taken pleasure in the hot wetness upon my cheeks Gratitude has a way of filling the heart to overflowing And spilling out The inner experience of gratitude Transforms into an outward expression of generosity As love, Unable to be contained