“Grief is love that has nowhere else to go.” This quote, famously written by poet Jamie Anderson, reflects how love is inherently personal and deeply rooted in the building blocks of ‘us’. Losing the recipient of that love can break down even the toughest walls.
I just thought I would let you know,
I don’t live there anymore.
In “I Don’t Live There Anymore,” Kalpesh Desai describes what it’s like to let go. Homes built on love are hard to leave. Like a red string attached to a finger, they have a pull that never seems to weaken. Even as their walls crumble, there remains the hope that one day, there will be two people waking up in each other’s embrace in that home. Still, a house like that will crumble regardless.
We received back
Only as much as we put in.
Another poem reflects on the trade-off of love. It hurts as much as it was good and intimate. The more love there is, the worse it hurts when it breaks down.
Love can influence our identity. We love what they do and associate smells, images, and feelings with them. These memories are filled with every good feeling that came with them. It’s a mourning—a yearning for the has-beens and the what-ifs.
Choosing to heal, despite the burning desire to hold on, is about finding the person beyond the broken love.
I looked in the mirror
And couldn’t find me.
And a voice whispered in my ear
“Let go of what holds you back,
And you will see”
“Clear Space” reflects on this feeling of unfamiliarity. Having been changed, going back to before all that joy and pain is hard. There’s a constant need to seek out the past. To heal is to fight to let go. Like grasping a shard of glass, the past seems more beautiful than the present. It’s a yearning for a time when the hurt didn’t exist. It only serves as a reminder of the ‘good old days.’
Every bridge crossed,
will be one that I will build.
Ultimately, the choice to let go lies within our hands. The heart has been given back to us. Though that chapter is over, the future is ours to dictate. As the poem “I Raise My Glass to Another Year” suggests, the bridges are burned, and the doors are already shut. Now, what’s left is to continue on.
Love is what makes us human. Through this inherent humanity, love endures. In Twilight, Desai reflects on the continued existence of love. Like rising from ashes, it lives through tears and loneliness.
Love’s luster comes alive.
Survive.
People love in different ways. Though we mourn the past, Jasmines in Her Hair teaches us that resilience leads to healing. From mourning comes rediscovery. Healing is a long, non-linear process.
by Nicole Samson