Holiday Hangover: Grief Edition

January 2024

I braced for it

Another holiday celebration

Slated without

The one who’d be missing

Trained as race day loomed

Sprints started weeks before,

Jumping through hoops

Hoping my heart was strengthening

Then it was Go-time

Hurdling over expected barriers

And brutal ones out of nowhere

Through smiles and grimaces

I crossed the finish line

Euphoric with success

Done, done and done

But then came the collapse

Just how much weight had I piled on my back?

Doubled over with tears of exhaustion

I’m hungover from overdoing it

Dreading the calendar

with more unavoidable holidays to come

But for now I’ll catch my breath

Mix up a remedy of

Gratitude and solitude

One more holiday behind me

Surely each one gets easier, right?

- susan johnson