Published in Irish Hospice Foundation's Grief Journal, 2022, as part of Compassionate Culture Network Programme
The Japanese art of repairing broken things
Seeing the cracks in things, like Cohen, but not quite
As something to put light into, rather than let light come through
Gilding them to give the whole piece a boldly proclaimed fragility
And so we came yesterday
Guided by the lovely Ailish
To repair and redeem our broken things:
Some plates, a boldly coloured vase,
An old china cup purchased specially for the day
A mug about waiting forever for the perfect man
A garlic holder, kept for years despite being broken And a porridge bowl with tractors on it, in daily use for years until it was dropped in recent weeks,
Gathered up and now being restored by the same daughter who had gifted it to her Dad
And the laughing bard money box, childhood gift for another
One of a pair
He played his lyre and laughed and sang, while his partner made ready for war
All brought with their imperfections
- Or worse in bits-
Held and gently mended in hands
As talk around the table focussed on what we had to do
Any mention about what was in us to be mended
That which had drawn each of us there
More on the edges,
At the tea flasks
Or sitting outside
Small steps on the road to piecing ourselves together
Finding in the sharing of our stories, perhaps, some of the glue the still broken bits of us might need
Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash