Invisible Feelings of Loss

/ rothpoetry

EER_0109

What do you say to one who has lost
A spouse… a child… or a loved one dear…
When ceremony has passed and flowers have faded?
How do we handle those feelings of loss
For a week or two we might inquire…
Wondering how they are doing; in their quiet solitude
Of grief and pain; in the empty spaces of the heart.
But time goes on, those questions retire.
Pain and loss become invisible feelings
That friends have talked about long enough…
Lest repetition stir up more than they can handle.
It’s time to pass over those invisible feelings!
No time for the crying heart; only a mask of smiles // “I’m fine”;
But, if you look closely, invisible feelings are glistening in their eyes.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Merril, at d/Verse, asked us to think about things around us that we miss or have made invisible. She asked us to be creative in our responses, so I decided to write about invisible feelings. It is often hard to know what to say to someone who has had a great loss in their family. Perhaps it is just better to be there for them. Talking some times gets in the way.

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42 thoughts on “Invisible Feelings of Loss”

  1. this is just so clear and pure, invisible feelings after an appropriate time of grieving has passed, no one notices them anymore, they think they have allowed you sufficient time, only those who really care acknowledge the silent invisible feelings. this resonated with me for many reasons. good choice for the prompt Dwight, I wrote a similar one but could not cope with the burden of writing another piece on grieif just yet but reading another’s words of poetry is always healing.

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  6. This was beautiful Dwight, very caring and sensitive. Yes, what do you say to someone whose heart is crushed and their soul torn? I liked the way you addressed that tricky topic here. And the glisten of those invisible feelings, that linger long, and surface not so invisible, and most unexpectedly, from time to time, over the years that follow. The thing I hated after my son was taken from me was someone at his funeral saying, “I know how you feel”. Unless they’d lost a young son or daughter, they had no idea how I felt. I knew in my mind they meant well, but in my heart at the time, it felt like they were diminishing my grief with that statement. Sorry Dwight, I am carrying on here. See, your piece here really touched me.

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    • I really appreciate your extended thoughtful comments, Rob. The same happens with people who are severly depressed. Being there is most important. Saying the insensitive thing is worse than saying nothing at all!

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  14. Oh my aching heart 😦 this is incredibly heartfelt.. and raw in its portrayal of loss and grief. I have found that loneliness is slowly spreading over the world.. people (most of them anyway) are least bothered by woes of others .. they’d rather exchange a smile or two and move on.

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  16. What a moving poem, and a heartfelt writing about grief. It’s so hard when the funeral and stuff is over, and everyone is expected just move on with their lives but the pain takes so much longer than that to fade 😦

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  19. Pingback: Invisible Feelings of Loss | Hebrews 13:2 NIV Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! EASTER 2019

  20. I am the world s worst sympathizer I am a street crosser, I feel no matter what I say will make things worse but, having suffered 2 great losses in the last 3 years I can see the error of my ways. Just a knowing smile or nod can give allot of comfort. People smile and say it will get better, it will get easier….. It doesn’t we just change how we carry out grief and hide it more effectively.

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