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Best in Black

Some days seem to look
their best in black,
that nighttime color of
souls when they're lost,
heartbroken, grieving,
and wishing the sun
might never rise again.
But it does, as always,
casting out shadows here
or there, reminding us:
while losses come and go,
we must still shine on.

This is a poem I wrote shortly after a friend's son died tragically young last month. I couldn't quite bear to share it with her at the time; it seemed an insufficient way to express my sympathies for her loss. But it contains much of what I was feeling that day of the funeral, watching all her other friends and family gather around and mourn alongside her. Thinking of my friend, I finally finished today.

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