Every time we lose someone we love, it's like a piece of us breaks away. The pain is undeniable but we continue on. All over the world and throughout time humans have created rituals around mourning. This series explore those rituals through digital art and poetry.
Light a Candle
Grief presses us into the earth, a silent, endless weight.
We reach for anything — anything — that might let us breathe.
I was raised Catholic, once taught that death meant lighting a candle,
setting a small fire against the endless dark,
letting it burn until the wick surrendered on its own.
I don’t believe in gods anymore, but still, I believe in flame.
In our home, my husband and I have built an altar —
a shelter of memories —
photographs, relics, pieces of faith that once held our loved ones steady.
We light candles for them, not because we expect salvation,
but because the light still speaks.
Because sometimes, in the trembling glow,
we remember how to carry the weight.
Portal to What Was
Memento Mori
Remember you must die —
Crisp and sharp, the stillness will capture us all.
In life we move and stir — blurred by the speed of it all.
We race to do something, to mean something.
Way back when, the living posed with the dead.
Propped up and still as they starred off into the distance.
Empty eyes, stiff and cold to the touch.
Photographs were rarely captured in life — in death they wanted to remember.
When faced with mortality we are fearful.
One day we must die but today we survive.