Love Song  by Nancy Schatz Alton

I write my own love song

equal parts poetry & sorrows

every experience that shattered me

sits next to my strength.

The rain slants

& this is still the perfect phrase

reused like sorrow & sadness

as familiar as rage & grief.

We seek new ways to describe

the same feelings everyone feels

every story is unique & starts

with a heaviness that lifts with the sharing.

It’s why we carry the names of the dead: Aaron, Miles, Cathy.

Outside the crows are gathering food for their offspring.

The Cypress tree shakes during feedings.

There’s a pause in everything

if I seek it, a yearning

for comfort within my fear.

I write my own love song & send it to you.