The Thing is to Love Life

The thing is

to love life, to love it even

when you have no stomach for it,

and everything you've held dear

crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,

your throat filled with the silt of it…

Then you hold life like a face

between your palms, a plain face,

no charming smile, no violet eyes,

and you say, yes, I will take you

I will love you again.

Ellen Bass