Advice from Grandma When Times Are Hard
by Mary Hills Kuck
It never helps to hide
your hurt inside a shell.
It feeds on that warm, sticky space,
grows, and like a hermit crab,
begins to seek a larger home.
No, my child, give the hurt
its head. Let it billow out
and shift its shape like clouds.
Draw it, colors somber,
figures sad and worn,
but add a little light
to hover near the edge.
Sing it hollow in the lonely
space of night, with minor tunes
and words so bittersweet
they empty out your pain.
Show the hurt you know it,
then fling it far away.
Soon, soon, you’ll be okay.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Hills Kuck has retired from teaching English and German in the US and Jamaica and now lives in Massachusetts with her family. She has received a Pushcart Prize nomination and has published in a number of journals, including the Connecticut River Review, SLANT, Tipton Poetry Journal, Burningword Literary Journal, From the Depths, Poetry Quarterly, Main St. Rag, and others. Her chapbook, Intermittent Sacraments, was published in June 2021 by Finishing Line Press.
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