Grief is the Ocean (a poem by my daughter)

For an assignment in her 9th grade Honors English class, my daughter was asked to write a poem using a strong emotion and linking it to a metaphor that would flow throughout the entire poem. I loved it when I first read it. Apparently, her teacher was impressed with it too. More importantly, I think it speaks volumes to this Grief Road that I’m currently walking. I wanted to share it with you. I’m proud of my girlie!

Grief is the Ocean

By: Anna Combs

Grief is the ocean

That contains crevices of darkness,

Bursting with hidden life.

Its waves are unpredictable.

In the beginning, the hard, rushing, swift ones

Seem impossible to get through.

The farther into the water,

The waves begin to relax.

At this point in the journey,

The ocean offers a brief rest.

And then it comes, without warning.

A tsunami-sized wave threatening

To sweep everything in its path

Further out to sea.

Even in the farthest places of the sea,

Even in the darkest gaps,

Life still exists within.

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26 Comments

    1. Candy – so right you are! In many ways, she’s your “typical” teenager, but in other ways, she’s so far outside the box it scares me at times. This one amazed me!

  1. So beautiful and true, going through grief is exactly like the ocean, you never know when the next wave is going to come along and knock you off your feet. But with God’s love we can keep getting back up. What a gifted intelligent daughter you have, I know she gives you inspiration to keep going. Just like you are an inspiration to her and all of us, thank you for sharing this with us.

    1. Sue – What sweet words you shared! Thank you for that! Yes, I think Anna is a pretty special gal (but, I AM a little biased…I know). 🙂 I think the “wave” motif was perfect, and I think she understands that perfectly, because she’s heard me constantly refer to the tidal waves of grief. I can often sense when they’re coming and try to “warn” her just in case.

  2. Anna…this should be published!! Maybe I need to digitally scrapbook this and we should hang it on the wall at Windy Hill. Leah….will you share the photos of you and Anna that you used here?? I’ll work on it at Scrap Camp

    1. I agree Liz! I think she did a beautiful job! Yes – I’ll be glad to share the pics for you to scrapbook it. Anna will be flattered that you’d want to hang that at Windy Hill! 🙂

    1. Thanks Renee! Anna has been reading the sweet comments, and it’s tickled her to pieces. I think it was pretty “right on” myself! 🙂

  3. Beautiful, Anna! Both your Father’s in Heaven are looking down and smiling at you. This poem will help many others dealing with grief. You are a blessing.

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