Mary Todd Lincoln On the Subject of Grief
(A Poetic Approach to Historical Fiction)
On 05/21/2025, On a drive from Colorado to Illinois, My family and I made a stop to visit the home of the Lincolns in Springfield, Illinois. While we were in their home on a guided tour, I was fascinated by the story of Mary. I wondered to myself, while looking at some real things they owned and some true to the times replicas, “what was it like for Mary?”
She bore four sons and lost three of them before the age of twenty. Her grief must have been immense. I wrote a poem depicting what I think it felt like for her. In the voice of a modern day woman
Grief Feels
Like Someone
Ripped Off
Your Skin
Left You Bare
Exposed
To The Elements
Every Nerve
On Your Body
On Edge
Everything
A Trigger
Grief Tastes
Like Sand
In Your Teeth
You Rinse
Floss
Wash Your Mouth
But You Can’t Get
Rid of It
Grief Sounds
Too Loud,
Too Quiet,
Too Much
Like A Child
Learning
To Play
An Instrument
Grief Smells
Like That Stench
In Your Hair
That No Shampoo
Can Get Rid Of
No Matter
The Number
Of Washes