Grief is loud
   Very loud
It only looks quiet
  Around others…
      As I hold it at bay
But grief is very loud
  It screams in my ears!
  It screams in my head!
  It screams in my heart!

My whole body is screaming
Every fiber of my being screams in grief
   Deep, agonizing, gut-wrenching grief
Grief is relentless
  Does it ever end?
If so, someone please tell me when.
I’m ready

Not ready to forget my love
But ready for the pain in my heart to stop
My heart is broken in half
It is blown apart
  Blood is gushing
I’m bleeding-out emotionally
Yes, Grief is loud
  Very, very loud
Even years later,
Sometimes, Grief is still very loud

Grief causes tears to fall
Grief causes my voice to scream
Grief causes my body to wrack in pain
Grief causes my brain to ask “Why?”
But grief lends no understanding
Grief brings confusion
   Sadness
   Frustration
   Anger
Grief is anything but quite!
Grief is loud
    Very loud
    Very, very loud
And Grief hurts
Did I tell you, Grief hurts?

  Oh yes…it does definitely hurt
Grief is loud
Is it possible to quite it?
  How can I?
Embrace the pain…
  Feel it….every fiber of it
Hold it…
   Experience it…
   Notice it…
And let God hold you
While you comfort the birth of this new baby
…Grief
Grief is loud…

The year was 1968, the month was December. Sgt. Greenberg was about 3 weeks short coming home from his second tour in Viet Nam. They had been in the field for a week to ten days on a Company size operation.  On December 1, the guys received their Thanksgiving meal in the field.  One of Sgt. Greenberg’s buddies from another platoon went back to get more milk when mortars and RPG’s (a rocket-propelled grenade known as rocket launcher; a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system that fires rockets equipped with an explosive war head) started coming in all over them.  By the time it was over, there were 10 or 12 guys wounded and three are dead.