The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
-Elizabeth Bishop
Here’s to everything and everyone I’ve lost. Here’s an apology for not treating you well enough; for not cherishing while it lasted; for being naïve.
Here’s to a bright smile under a tombstone; a valued possession somewhere in a landfill; a heart that stayed and went away.
Here’s to all the laughter. Here’s to all the tears. Here’s to all the new things that turned old. And here’s to more new things that will turn old again in due time. Something loses its freshness every day. Somewhere, a flame dies; somewhere else, another is lit.
Here’s to all the mini deaths and mini thrills in life. Here’s to gaining new things. Here’s to losing more things. Who’s to say which are going to be lost again?
Here’s to all the times you’ve felt on top of the world. Here’s to all the times you’ve felt worse than trash. Keep it together. Stay strong. The world is not ending—yet.
; 