Tidal Haiku

Tide goes in and out
In and out and in and out
In and out and in.

I called David tonight when I got back to my room.  I’m away at a retreat for work, staying in a lovely spot on the ocean.  He had sad news — the 20 year old son of a man we both know killed himself, on the train tracks in Durham.  So once again, loss washes in.  For David it washes in over memories of suicides in his own family and the recent shattering in his family of a new, young relationship that was full of hope and celebration just months ago.  For me, it washes in deep sympathy for the family of the young man, knowing what those mind numbing, disorienting and terribly painful early months of grief feel like.  With heavy hearts, we go to sleep.  I’ll wake to the ocean.  David will wake to fields of snow.  The sun will be up, the day will move on, sadness will be a wake rippling behind us.