Empty Nest

Who am I now

That my children have grown?

This quiet,

This emptiness

A grief I didn’t know

Would feel like an unmooring

My life once tethered 

To their needs, their laughter 

Their messes, their moments 

And now -

The house is still

And I am adrift

Searching for footing 

On unfamiliar ground 

Will they be ok without me?

Will I be ok without them?

What do I do with this grief

This space 

That holds their absence

And my longing?

Where do I place my hands

When they are no longer

Wiping tears,

Clutching tiny fingers

Guiding and protecting?

Who am I now?

Am I more than their mother,

Their home?

This grief,

This letting go

It’s not just theirs -

It’s mine too.

But perhaps,

Beneath the weight of this emptiness

There is something waiting

A new way to hold myself

To be untethered

Not as lost

But as free

To be me.

By Tanya Cameron