I cradled you in my arms
as you wept
Not just for your loss
but for the all encompassing miasma of it all.
There was nothing to listen to
between clipped
wet
gasps.
So I felt it all,
absorbed as best I could
to temper the weight on your tiny
bowed shoulders
while the dogs paced confused circles
unsure how to best offer support.
Tried to provide condolences
for which past, present,
future you
had so desperately yearned.

Maybe you were doing the same.
Processing all the tears I was never allowed,
never knew how to purge.
Pulling the screams stuck inside me
out with hands so small
I was always amazed at how
they could ever hold
so much.

Perhaps we've always been right there
since time's beginning
and will remain so
at the end
wrapped tight in thick hair
and saline
unsure of the next epoch's dawning.