Groundhog

Yesterday I noticed a big groundhog curled up in a ball in my yard. I tried to rouse him, stomping, clapping.

I got close enough to see the rise and fall of breath. He was curled into himself, on the way out of this world.

Yellow leaves falling around him.

Today he is fallen over, laid out on the ground. Gone.

My girls are sad. The youngest wonders why I didn't do something or call someone to save him.

These things do not get easier. I asked myself the same question. Why can't I rescue things?

Death and loss are not things I have matured into being at ease with, even though I contemplate it as much as I do.

Honestly, I am afraid. Terrified.

This need to examine dying is a fundamental piece of me. I am pulled toward relationship with it. I have sought extended forms of support around it. It has my name on it.

I wish it didn't.