I hate that radical acceptance is the invitation

An excerpt from Still Here: A Poetry Memoir of Grief & Love.

wise people say
radical acceptance
is a healing and hard practice

i can’t bring you back

if i’m more honest
than i want to be
part of me believed
writing this book
would bring you back

that maybe i could save you
with words and love

look, world
i cried enough
i grieved enough
i did what you told me to do
where is he?

i threw stones into
the ocean today
each one full of
rage and powerlessness

you’re not coming back

part of me knows it’s true
part of me will try to outrun it 
forever

my therapist says
part of our heart
never fully accepts death

the love is too strong

— i think i’m okay with that