AmLit Spring 2022

Page 82

Grief

Emilee Rae Hibshman I thought of you harshly for weeks and months, time flying by as I hurt myself by hating you, focusing on the bad, seeing the world through angry eyes. Now, I think of you softly in retrospective moments of weakness, because I remember the hardness you placed into my heart. It took me years to thaw the space in my chest that you filled with ice water – to reach deep inside and remove each brick from the walls I built to keep you out. Today, I think of you softly in hindsight because I’m a softer person now and you don’t get to claim credit for who I am.

American Literary Magazine | 86


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