Poems about Grief and Loss
This is a collection of poems about grief that I wanted to share. Some may help in ways to clarify the many emotions around losing someone close. It’s such a confusing time and the mixed feelings come and go, sometimes it can be comforting to know that others are having similar thoughts.
Remember How They Loved You
by Donna Ashworth
On those days
when you miss someone the most,
as though your memories
are sharp enough to slice through skin and bone,
remember how they loved you.
Remember how they loved you
and do that,
for yourself.
In their name,
in their honour.
Love yourself,
as they loved you.
They would like that.
On those days
when you miss someone the most,
love yourself harder.
From Girl (Remastered)
by Jessica Jocelyn
I have one foot
stuck in sadness,
while the other foot
is in the doorway to happiness,
parts of me dance
in the sunshine,
while the other parts
drown in the rain.
I am the one in the room
who laughs the loudest
while the grief stings
and pulls me backward.
I exist simultaneously
happy and sad,
and at any given moment
either one can take over,
don’t try to pull me
one way or the other,
because one can’t
exist without the other.
Alive And Well And Shopping In Aldi
By Amy Redmond
I’ve an idea a South Indian
vegetarian curry would be good
So here I am rummaging through boxes
trying to find a few decent
red peppers
unswaddled in plastic
And I turn around and see
my dead father
combing the shelves
basket in hand
without a care in the world
He looks up at me
double takes
gives me a second glance.
Hello I want to say,
Hi, Wait, What are you doing here? Can I help you? Where did you go?
Is it you?
I realise now that it’s Ash Wednesday
Is this some joke the church is playing on
A fallen Catholic like me and a totally
irreverent atheist like him!
So….
Has he defied us all
And come back to life and
is alive and well and shopping in Aldi?
Happily sifting through the weekly bargains
I blink but such an
unmistakable resemblance
drives me to follow this man stealthily,
aisle by aisle.
Slightly stooped though nimble
Check
Grey crew cut sticking up at the back of his neck
Check
Wax jacket, loose and comfortable
Check
Trendy jeans
Check
The shoes
It is the shoes that
give this impersonator away
Flat and navy with a white plimsole
Dad would never be caught dead in those.
Winner of the HeadStuff Poetry Competition 2018 (Theme ‘Surprise Encounters’)
Spiderweb
by Ryan Kay
From other
angles the
fibers look
fragile, but
not from the
spider’s, always
hauling course
ropes, hitching
lines to the
best posts
possible. It’s
heavy work
everyplace,
fighting sag,
winching up
give. It
isn’t ever
delicate
to live.
Memory of My Father
by Patrick Kavanagh
Every old man I see
Reminds me of my father
When he had fallen in love with death
One time when sheaves were gathered.
That man I saw in Gardner Street
Stumbled on the kerb was one,
He stared at me half-eyed,
I might have been his son.
And I remember the musician
Faltering over his fiddle
In Bayswater, London,
He too set me the riddle.
Every old man I see
In October-coloured weather
Seems to say to me:
"I was once your father."
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
by Mary Elizabeth Fry
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I missed you quietly today
Becky Hemsley 2024
I missed you quietly today. So quietly that no one noticed.
I missed you as I climbed out of bed and as I brushed my teeth; when I waited at the lights on the drive into work and as I heard the rain outside my window.
I missed you as I ordered lunch and as I kicked off my shoes when I got home; as I switched off the lights and climbed into bed for the night.
I missed you without tears or noise or fanfare.
But oh how I felt it.
I felt it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and at night. I felt it as I woke, as I waited, as I worked. I felt it at home, on the road, in the light, in the dark, in the rain.
I felt it in every one of those moments, each one sitting heavier and heavier as the weight of me missing you kept growing and growing.
Yes, I missed you so quietly today.
But I felt it so loudly.
I have compiled a selection of Poems and Verses for Memorial Cards
this may help you in choosing the wording for your card.
Great Grief by Donna Ashworth
Don’t fall out of love with the world
because they no longer live in it.
Instead, be grateful
that this world produced them.
Be glad
that this life ever existed
and that you
were blessed enough to love them then
and love them still.
Don't fall out of love with this world
because it could not keep
your heart whole.
instead
let love be the glue
patch it up
and fill it with joy
joy that you know
first-hand in this bittersweet conundrum
that great grief
is born only
of great love.