Mom Died

When I got the news that Mom passed away

My being filled with such richness of emotion

“How do I feel?” I was asked, and I could not say.

Everything was changing, everything was in motion.

The emptiness in my heart I could refer to as pain

Was confused by an unexpected feeling of, what is it, joy?

I was happy that the hurt was true and not vain.

There was no call for false strength, no need to be coy.

The joy is in the truth, rich in its authentic nature.

The wholeness of the feeling occupied heart, mind and soul.

Glad that I could feel with uncompromising rapture

This was a pain that I wanted to feel, the price of love, the toll.

The paradox, pain and joy, the nature of grief

Thank you that this richness of emotion is not brief.

By Wade McJacobs