Poetry Spotlight: “In Spite Of All Of This Grief” by Megan Jessop

Today I saw a panda bear dancing with a man
while waiting for the train in Portland, Oregon.
Oh, it reminded me that sometimes our weird, whimsical joy 
might be just the thing to remind people to look up. 

Pay attention.
Happiness still exists in spite of all
of this grief.

Wake up. 
There is still laughter 
to be spilled from your lips,
to be drank in by a lover while he/she/they
thirstily kiss each drop of sunshine 
that scatters from your open-mouth grin.

It is the fleeting of the daylight,
when the gold bleeds back into the navy skies,
that fills us with nostalgic longing
knowing that none of it could ever last. 

So catch it like a firefly,
in hands held loosely.
Store them up in mason jars, 
like moonshine and honey wine.
Save it for the winter
when the world is cold
and we need the light
to fill our bellies and remind us,
that there is always still warmth.