in one blessed breath

I sat with my sadness
planting it into this shell,
I watered it with silent tears,
and stories I could not tell,
I tilled the soil where it lay,
so it could gently breathe,
and watched it every day and night,
as it grew new shoots, new leaves,

and then one day, when the shell was old,
and time had left her many scars,
I found to my surprise that the tiny seed
had grown to kiss the stars,
I still water her roots with silent tears,
and watch her leaves grow, then wither,
I still listen to her speak and breathe,
through her graceful dance in the ether, 

and as her breath moves in and out,
I see the blue skies slowly turn grey,
as wings dart across from her bosom,
to pierce the darkened sway,
and then the earth's suddenly awash,
with tears streaming from above,
as I watch creatures big and small,
dance with joy, singing songs of love.

oh! what a feast this is then,
to a broken heart,
to hold the pangs of pain and joy
in one blessed breath,
a testament to its endless love.