The Sense of Grief

The Sense of Grief

                “The countless that love caused to lose their lives” – Dante Inferno, Canto V

Cinderella and other countless tales

that end happily thereafter

are forgivable lies I told my son

until through living he grew less naive.

When a playground bully first dimmed his light

or when he heard me call from the sidelines

Who wants the ball more!

he listened but refused the lesson.

A mother killed the son she loved

not in any abstract or metaphorical way.

I so share the sense of grief

I cling like a last winter’s leaf

twisting crazily this way and that

The first to die, losing, still believes.