Good Grief
()
About this ebook
In the days and months following his wife’s death, Tanzania-born Alinuru Yasin turned to poetry—and tapped into a powerful experience shared by us all. Inspired by his desire to comfort those suffering from hardships both large and small, he explored the universality of his own emotions around mourning. The result of his work, Good Grief: Sixty Days with Sixty Poems, is part reflection on loss, part celebration of life.
Told through the voice of a Swahili storyteller, this debut collection teaches us to savor our relationships, our hobbies, and even our responsibilities as part of the human journey. Thoughtful and uplifting, it encourages us to live each day with purpose and to never take anything, or anyone, for granted.
To live means to grieve at some point, but Good Grief: Sixty Days with Sixty Poems extends a hand to help us move forward along this universal path, toward healing.
Alinuru Yasin
Alinuru Yasin began writing poetry as a child while attending boarding school in England and South Africa. The Swahili riddles and proverbs he learned in his native Tanzania continue to influence his life. His passion for connecting through shared cultural experiences has taken him on travels around the globe. Before immigrating to the United States in 2000, he was an African safari guide and later became a cultural representative. He currently lives in Michigan with his two Yorkshire terriers. Good Grief: 60 Days with 60 Poems is his first book of poetry.
Related to Good Grief
Related ebooks
People I Can't or Won't Have Another Conversation With Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Many Moons & Motels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSide Effects Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Recesses of the Mind: An Exploration of Depression, PTSD, and Poetic Forms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReel to Reel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoetry for the Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove Notes to Nightmares Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpiritual Meanderings per Linguam: A New Collection of Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Are We Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat I Gave You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSixfold Poetry Summer 2019 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusic Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeating Hearts and Butterflies: Poetry of Wounds, Wishes and Wisdom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTears From My Pen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHooked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Waiting Room Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTangents: prose and poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Oleander: A Collection of Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust Be Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrief Land: Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMany Voices: Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThunderbird Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Diary of Our Fatal Illness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings[explicit lyrics]: Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbuses' Poetic Product Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flowers of the Night: Musings from a Sentimental Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWords Can't Explain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRelease the Fireflies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBruises, Birthmarks & Other Calamities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Poetry For You
Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poems That Make Grown Men Cry: 100 Men on the Words That Move Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things We Don't Talk About Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Her Wild: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Inferno: The Divine Comedy, Book One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Way Forward Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Better Be Lightning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dream Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of John Keats (with an Introduction by Robert Bridges) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twenty love poems and a song of despair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Works Of Oscar Wilde Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Road Not Taken and other Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enough Rope: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (ReadOn Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: The Fitzgerald Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A New English Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Good Grief
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Good Grief - Alinuru Yasin
Herculean Triumphant—The Champ
I,
Am,
Ali,
Cassius Clay,
And his becoming,
Muhammad Ali became,
I floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee,
Left right jab, uppercut jazz, fight like you mean it, a raging bull in the tight planet,
Is right mighty? I stood all alone, then support came along,
I stood tall, I said no, I found good help along the way, and they all came my way,
Left hook knockout, right on the rope, in the rumble of the jungle down with Manila thriller, I could have become a killer but chose peace,
Peace, peace, peace, justice for all, we are all equal in the eyes of the benevolent,
We are all the same with a purpose; seek, yearn for it,
Become who you are meant to be,
Muhammad Ali,
Shall always,
Guide us,
Champ,
Me.
After April 17, 2016, when I completed the sixty poems, I could not write anything. I was numb and somber. More or less, I sent out the weekly e-mails to family and friends and continued with life: an exercise routine whereby I have been running and practicing yoga. The new vigorous routine allowed me to lose over fifty pounds. Then, with the passing of the Champ, something began to move inside me. Dare I say: a rumble, a new beginning to connect with others who have lost and worked through their grief?
A tribute to a beacon of hope and equality for all, a person who opened doors for many, and a pillar that has supported many, allowing them to rise up with respect, diligence, and twinkles in their eyes. For Mr. Jon B., thank you for sharing your personal encounters with a legend.
Moreover, on June 26, 2016, while visiting my sister and my delightful niece, I watched the children play. I witnessed the children celebrating my niece’s sixth birthday. My hands moved quickly toward paper as I began to write a new series of poems under the working title Hopefulness in the Ordinary. The birthday poem is the first of many more to come. Our intersecting, intermingling, and engaging extraordinary lives are a precious daily gift.
Good Grief
60. Blessings for Tomorrow: Good Grief . . .
When there is a beginning, there is an end.
Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic,
Birth, marriage, death,
They come in threes,
Even the three wise men.
We know we are just passing through,
A transit of the soul,
A physical manifestation of Our Dear Lord,
A unique part of the