LANGUAGE of LOSS

I’m confident many of you have heard of the “Five Love Languages”. According to behavioral scientist Dr. Zelana Montminy there are five loss languages as well.

Recently my dear friend Sally shared a gift; a long poem entitled “Loss Has A Language” by Shashank Sharma that artfully and accurately articulates the nuances of grief. Here are some excerpts.

“You learn it when somebody leaves, They don’t take everything. They leave a hundred little versions of themselves…Their slippers near the door. The way they used to say your name… It happens in pieces…In the ringtone you hear…and then it happens in guilt. For laughing again…For deleting their number…They say ‘time heals'…grief isn’t a wound. It’s a season. You don’t heal from winter. You live through it…And in some ways, they never really leave…”That’s what love does. It doesn’t end. It evolves. From presence to memory, From voice to echo.”

I encourage you to read the entire poem.

-Harriet