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Stages of Grief

Stages of Grief

– Poetry by Mary Redman –

Featured in issue 14 of Dreamers Magazine

Purchase issue 14 in digital or print here

The shock of his crimes
sent me to the brink
of bankruptcy,
cost me plenty:
decades of supposed contentment.

Once in denial of his lidded lies,
I found asylum
in a world where logic told me
up was down was up—
for years I wandered in a fog
of deceit,
now a haze of grief.
In a fugue-like state,
I bargained
for my sanity, ‘til anger’s fierce
light split the shell I wore,
seared this grief-bruised brain,
with fiery cleansing
left me soaked
in sweat and tears,
at long last
accepting—
there is no other
reality but the one within
arm’s reach


About the Author – Mary Redman
Mary Redman

Mary Redman is a retired English educator. She currently volunteers in the Indianapolis, Indiana community. Her poems have been published in Flying Island, Kaleidoscope Magazine, Tipton Poetry Journal, So It Goes Journal, Saint Katherine Review, Still Point Arts, and elsewhere.


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