©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

This year, on Independence Day,
it’s hard to know just what to say,
for words are used as weapons now
by some who vow or disavow
whatever stance one might defend,
with all sides easy to offend.

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

come and sit
beneath my blanket
as you did when
we shared space

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

Art image by JaclynsStudio

In life, it was mine to give you care,
A role I would never begrudge at all,
From blissful days of downy hair,
And me ever grateful that I was there,
Through years that bore fruit in a wailing wall.

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

the sun has left the sky
vanishing on a sigh
while lesser stars prevail
in fading shades of pale

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

all lives matter
black lives matter
his life matters
mine

 ©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

A merry-go-round is Covid, friends.
Somehow, we will ride through it.
The CDC has put out info.
Why don’t we review it?

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

Girl Among the Flowers, A Day in the Country
Artwork by Estelle Grundwald

Every day a hundred ways to know you are gone.
Sometimes, I can’t help but wish that I could move on.
You left me with so many spaces, so many empty places,
left me with so many spaces, too many empty places.

©2020 Susan Noyes Anderson

A question in grief group last week gave me pause,
“Are you struggling more now, with Covid the cause?”
Answers varied, and yet most replies shared a thread:
We were already maxed-out on grieving our dead.
Losing children had broken us, brought us so low
that in truth, there was not that much further to go.