Stages of Grief

 We have big news

They announced out of the blue

And I joked that they were going to tell use you were dead

But while I said it in jest,

They did, in fact, tell us you were gone

And just like that, I had to process the loss -

All the things we had accomplished, all the memories and plans for the future

Gone

I was heartbroken

And angry

But no one asked how I felt

And no one else seemed to feel the same pain

I was told to smile and move on

As if your demise was no more noteworthy than a change in the weather

As if people weren't spewing venom in your absence

Saying you deserved to die

And maybe you should've been gone a long time ago

But I did as I was told

As I always do

While trying to honor your legacy

I pondered how to move on without you

And eventually the pain dulled

And the bleeding stopped

But sometimes I remember

Everything that was lost

And how I was denied a chance to mourn

And I cry again

In secret

Alone