Grief’s Paradox

Summary

The website content is a poetic excerpt from the upcoming novel "The Promise of Feral Seeds," exploring the theme of grief as both a force that draws one to the edge and a tether that binds one to life.

Abstract

The provided text is a series of interconnected poems that delve into the complex nature of grief. Set in a subterranean train station, the protagonist reflects on the paradoxical role of grief in their life. It is personified as a powerful force, akin to a hurricane wind or a stampede, which has the potential to carry one beyond concern for life. Yet, it is also grief that holds the protagonist back from the edge, serving as a connection to the world and a beacon for finding the way back from the brink of despair. The poems are part of the author's new novel, "The Promise of Feral Seeds," which promises to weave a narrative across time and space, centered around a lost promise.

Opinions

Grief is depicted as a dual-natured experience, both destructive and life-affirming.
The station is metaphorically described as the "city’s bowels," suggesting it as a place of deep introspection and raw emotion.
The protagonist's relationship with grief is complex; it has taken over their life, yet it is not something to fear or reject.
The imagery of nature (bison, wind, leaf) is used to convey the overwhelming power of grief.
The act of honoring losses through grief is presented as a necessary step towards healing and finding one's way back to living fully.
The poem suggests that grief, when faced and acknowledged, can illuminate the path forward.

Grief’s Paradox

The station dwells where else but in the city’s bowels. I descend.

Mine is the second. The first approaches Beyond the yellow I stand at the edge. Just to see. Just to feel. Just to sense the power.

It blows through. A stampede of bison. A hurricane wind. A windswept leaf on such a force can be carried beyond care, beyond thought, beyond responsibility.

Another train will soon arrive. My train.

Yet I am held. Not for fear. Not for duty. But for grief has acquired my life, so I have no life to throw away.

Grief brought me to the edge. Grief tethers me to the world. I must honour the losses through grief met well lights the way back up.

This poem is part of my new (not yet published) novel entitled The Promise of Feral Seeds. A quest story that travels time and space in search of a lost promise. You will see examples of this weaving in a number of forthcoming pieces.