27.4.16 (#117) Good Grief by Myron Lysenko

Good grief is when you learn
that the school bully who tormented you for six years

grew into a policeman

who died from gradual dismemberment of his limbs

at the hands of the higher sector

of your local motorcycle gang.

Bad grief is when your mother dies
in a nursing home in another country

and nobody tells you until you’re on your death bed.

Average grief is when the tadpole you caught
at the creek and carried home in your school lunchbox
dies a few hours later before it could turn into a frog.

Interminable grief is being a cheer squad member
of the St Kilda Football Club.

Suffering grief is when you keep on spreading
your grief at the loss of a loved one
while all your family and friends around you
just want to get on with their lives.

Collective grief is when the party
you vote for wins the federal election

but the major policies remain the same.