Grief lies heavy

no matter how many embraces,

grief lies heavy on my shoulders,

it's a lonely load, no one can carry 

it for me, in the end, it's as if I am suffocating

under a black blanket, struggling to breathe

while watching my own child under his

own blanket of grief, and the mother

under yet more blankets of grief. 

we gaze at each other, make small talk at lunch,

but we know that we are barely breathing,

the shadow of Owen's loss is long.  11/22/2021