After the Mourning
from Out With Lanterns
“MacGregor’s reward had been the work itself, the daily doing of it, the achievement made of a million unremarkable days.”
~ Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
Let this be the remembering.
That it’s the work itself.
That the reward is no award.
That it’s the daily waking,
the daily paying attention,
welcoming each uneasy,
unremarkable feeling.
After the mourning came
the day, and then the night,
and then, behold, another
night where perseid meteors
showered through ink black sky
while I lay inside, unready to see,
but knowing that stars were
falling all around me, that
light was blazing through,
that white-gold streaked across
new moon just because it was time–
not to be seen, not for show,
not to prove their brightness. This.
Let this be the remembering.
Beautiful, friend.