When Sadness Comes to Visit

Against all instinct,
Don’t run away.
Try not to fix anything.
Don’t get busy
Cleaning the house
Or running errands.

Just sit down with it.
Offer it a cup of tea.
There may be nothing left
To talk about,
So just stare out the window
Together.

Pretty soon,
You’ll be distracted
By a bird at the feeder
Or by a shadow cast
By the trees
At this time of day.
Why hadn’t you
Ever noticed that before?

Coming back,
You will look over and,
Without knowing how or why,
Sadness will be gone,
At least for now.

Maybe you will pick up a brush
Or a pen
And try to recreate
The shadow and light
That you discovered
Together.

By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith