I love you and please don’t die

by Lynne Zotalis

how I dread the next loss  

it will happen as sure as the blinding sun rises    

I know

the anguish it brings,  

but have to risk it 

or give up

on life      

how I dread the next loss,

it will happen like sand washing out to sea

is it defeatist and morbid

or realistic and pragmatic? I choose the latter 

I know what I know   

just as the waves roll in…    out,

pummeling the shoreline

the undertow overpowering

how I dread the next loss,

it will happen as sure as monarchs migrate

[here’s what it’s like]  

as strong as their presence was,

that’s how strong the absence is felt,

powerful and profound as that life lived,

the depth of grief will surpass, continuing…

forever      

with deleterious consequences to one’s psyche,

as well as body

one may mask emotions

but try as you might,

it will not be assuaged, ignored or minimized  

one cannot skip ahead or waylay the inevitable

it will happen,

how I dread

the next loss

* * * * *

As a freelance contributor and member in the Iowa Poetry Association, Lynne Zotalis’s poetry has been published in Lyrical Iowa for ten years running. She is a member of the Peace and Social Justice Writers Group at the Loft in Minneapolis, MN, with contributions to their chapbook and Turning Points: Discovering Meaning and Passion in Turbulent Times. Her poetry has appeared in Tuck Magazine and Poetic Bond VII, and Lynne was one of six winners of the RH Cunningham short story contest published in the book Life Dances. All available on Amazon.