The Loss by Patricia Thrushart

These are dark days.
No sun warms,
No moon lights our way.
Our loved ones slip,
Beyond the Pale.
Spent,
We rend our garments,
Weep and wail, and reel.
We feel the turning of the Wheel,
Our Grief an anchor, spoke and chain,
Our Heart a torn sail without billow,
Our Hope the wind,
Our Faith the path upon the water,
The moon will light again.
For we will mend:
Our Love the Sailcloth,
Our Memories the piercing, darning,
Needle.

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Joanne (Jo) Scheier Bugay
Jo has always loved the written word, as a reader, a songwriter and a poet. This love led her to the  publication of her first book, Little Girl Against the Wall, in 2009.  A second book, Yin and Yang, was published in 2017.  She is currently putting the finishing touches on an eBook to be published later in 2019.  The book, Making Peace with the Minotaur, will incorporate her poetry with essays that explore the concept of resiliency and the pursuit of tranquility in the face of challenging times.  Her third book of poetry, Of Time and Seasons, is slated to be published in mid-2019.  Jo is a member of the Writers Block Party and a contributor to The Watershed Journal, where she also serves as a volunteer.  Her work has been published in Dark Horse Appalachia, The Brookville Mirror and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

About the Piece
This piece was written for a friend who lost her sister to cancer. It was meant as an acknowledgement that there would be many dark days and that life would not return to the way it was before the loss; and yet there was hope for an eventual acceptance and healing. 

More from Jo
Dark Horse
The Watershed Journal Summer 2018
The Watershed Journal Fall 2018
The Watershed Journal Winter 2019 (Members only until February 15, 2019)