Two weeks ago, my brother-in-law Jonathan Eric Cohen passed away from a drug overdose at the age of 41. Unfortunately, I am familiar with grief and its unpredictable ebb and flow. Writing poetry has always been a way for me to process the collision of feelings and emotions surrounding any experience but, especially, a painful one. Since returning from my travels to Florida and South Carolina, I have been besieged by the latest virus. I am trying to stay in bed and get some rest, but I haven't really succeeded. In fact, I've completely failed to do so. This afternoon, I felt the impulse to work on a poem that had been poking me for attention ever since I heard the news that Jonathan had died. One of the most comforting poems I know for those who are grieving is titled "For Grief" by John O'Donohue. I am sure the poem below will be one of many poems because grief, more than any emotion, renders me raw. I have no choice but to write it out.
Jonathan Eric Cohen
July 15, 1975 - March 15, 2017
For Jonathan
by Lauren Taub Cohen
I am haunted by
the sounds
of clumped dirt
being flung upon
your casket
with a sickening series
of thuds and thumps.
It's the sound of
hope
extinguished.
It's the sound
of death's bell
ringing with cries
of all that could have been
had the disease
of addiction
not assailed
your troubled,
yet tender,
heart.
I will miss
your wily smirk
and how your chuckle
always roused
gusts of raucous
laughter and inspired
a mischievous
prank or two.
You are now free
from a lifetime
of suffering
and finally
at rest
in everlasting
peace.
You will be
forever loved
and forever
missed.