Read more poetry by Britt Wolfe
I hope the dead
do not hear us calling.
That grief cannot follow
where they have gone,
that all our aching words
fall gently to the earth
and never find their way
across the veil.
I hope there is a mercy
in the leaving,
a quiet unburdening
of everything
that made a life so heavy.
That sorrow loses its meaning,
that regret is laid to rest,
that every unfinished thing
is finally allowed
to remain unfinished.
I hope they do not see
the empty chairs,
the trembling hands,
the ordinary afternoons
undone by absence.
I hope our tears
cannot reach them.
Not because love should end,
but because love,
if it is worth anything,
must sometimes ask
for nothing in return.
Not even remembrance.
Not even one last moment
of being near.
I hope the ones who went before
are waiting somewhere beautiful,
that recognition comes
without the cruelty of goodbye,
that familiar voices rise
like music from another room,
and all the years between
become nothing at all.
I hope there is laughter
without its shadow,
rest without the need
to earn it,
and an eternity
that asks for nothing
but the simple pleasure
of being.
And if there is a heaven,
I hope it is not a window
looking back upon this world.
I hope it is a door
that closes softly
on all that hurt.
Because there has been
enough suffering here.
Enough longing.
Enough carrying
what could not be changed.
Let the living keep their grief.
Let it belong to us.
Let the dead be free
of even the knowledge
that they are missed.
And when love reaches
for what it cannot hold,
let it find no one waiting
in the darkness.
Only peace.
Only peace.
Only the beautiful silence
of a soul
that has finally
been allowed
to rest.
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Poetry by Britt Wolfe:
What happens when love becomes allegiance, loyalty is mistaken for truth, and the people we cherish become strangers beneath the weight of all of it? Emotional Enmeshment is a deeply intimate exploration of invisible family loyalties, the heartbreak of conditional tenderness, and the exhausting search for answers that may never exist. It is a poem about the relationships that might have been, the love that was undeniably real, and the quiet devastation of accepting that some things cannot be repaired, explained, or understood. For anyone who has ever wondered whether different words, greater patience, or a little more love might have changed everything—and is learning to make peace with never knowing.💚