The Thing Is - Ellen Bass

... you hold life like a face between your palms ...

I kept seeing one particularly powerful poem by Ellen Bass circulating Instagram for a while. So I bought her 3 books, Mules of Love, The Human Line, and Like a Begger, and I’m so glad I did.

Her work can been so raw and wriggling. So honest and thoughtful. I hope you like this brief one.

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The Thing Is
By Ellen Bass from Mules of Love

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you down like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

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I’d love to hear from you! I want to know what you think. Did you like this poem? Did any part of it resonate with you or just sound good in your ear or feel good in your mouth? Let me know!