The Poet's Promise

   When my biggest fan, my mother-in-law Pat, shared that reading my Lament book was still helping a family member with his loss, I began to ponder--What is it about poetry that helps a hurting heart? Why do people who at no other time read poetry, so often seek it in sorrow, include it in memorial services? My conclusion is the following, unsurprisingly--a poem.

The Poet's Promise

The poet's promise

is not to heal your pain,

but to join you in it,

to give you words

for the things you feel,

to shape your sorrow

within a beautiful frame,

to search for the beacon

hidden in the darkness.

 

Fitting honest words

to your pain and hope

is the only power

in the poet's promise.