green with grief and hope

orion stole the sky.

Betelgeuse, at his shoulder, winked mightily.

the tears and tears of all those hidden hurts

burned long and slow

in a steady green flame.

I belong for the first time

to a room in my own heart.

in the witness of the pain of death, the

fractures of a family

cracked and split,

and so long I grieved it might never mend.

what was lost was lost,

I feared,

for ever.

what can I say to fill the thankfulness of the stretch of this kindness?

you hold as only love can hold;

firmly, to the fire.

gently, with space enough to be

everything we are,

everything we feel,

all tears and fears

all fight and flight.

and in the stand of courage to break apart the stone,

something like a miracle

arrives.