I once read

“A loss is a loss”

And now those words

Ring true and pure

When I think about

What I have lost. 

It was not just

A place to go

A thing to do. 

I have not lost

A calendar item

An hour from my day

An appointment

On an endless agenda. 

I have lost

A sacred space

An altar where

I lay my burdens

A community that holds me

Wraps its fingers round mine

And says “you belong.”

And for what? 

Why has this loss come on me?

For the sake of

Healing 

And the

Comfort

Of someone else

I was driven away. 

“You belong” 

Turned to 

“I want you to leave”

A poison in the well

That had kept me alive

In my own wilderness. 

“A loss is a loss”

Each major change, a grief.