Love comes in many forms. Some love is among two, yet other love is one-sided. Some say they love but don’t know-how. No matter what form love takes when it is gone, the pain is the same. These 10 poems of love lost are for you who loved and found sadness, heartache, and devastation.
Maybe you thought your love was forever, and one day they left you. Or maybe you love a person who only knows how to mistreat you. That doesn’t make you love any less, but the pain is still there.
Any one of these poems can ring true to you and help you see that others feel the same pain as you. You are not alone in this vast world. Someone has put your pain to the words of a poem.
You thought
Have you been in love with a person who mistreated you? You wanted so much to be with that person, but your instincts took over. Your boundaries would not allow you to lay down and allow the abuse. If so, then this poem is the one to touch your heart.
By Dorothea Lasky
You Thought
You thought I’d flipped the switch and I hadn’t
You thought I’d left the window open
And I wouldn’t
You thought I’d turn the dial up
But I didn’t
You thought I’d ring the sun the super
But I shouldn’t
You thought I’d unlock the beehive
But I wouldn’t
You thought I’d sing the dirge
But I couldn’t
You thought I’d cook the rabbit
And I hadn’t
You thought I’d come back that day
And I didn’t
You thought I’d tend the flowers
But I couldn’t
You thought I’d turn the lock
But I hadn’t
You thought I’d open the door
See you
But I couldn’t
You thought I’d lay down
But I couldn’t
It kills me still
I couldn’t
I couldn’t
Last Goodbye
Has a love of your life gone off to the armed forces or off to school far away. You know it will never be the same if you see them again. Or maybe you decided to break up and let them go their way. The pain is deep, but you know you have to let go. “Last Goodbye,” says it all in words that you can relate to.
© By Dorsa Saa June 2010
Last Goodbye
I sit here waiting
waiting for you to see
that time is running out
come on and save me
It’s not your fault I’m crying
so don’t you think that at all
don’t feel guilty for something you didn’t do
just hug me and don’t let me fall
Your arms are so soft and cozy
The look in your eyes, I can’t forget
I wish you didn’t have to leave
but I know the date is set
I let the tears fall down my face
But you tell me not to cry
And that everything will be fine
I know it’s all a lie
I know you can’t stand it either
That we’ll be so far apart
And sleep all alone each night
Yet I know we’ll still be together in the heart
You give me one last kiss and hug
And wipe a single tear
Wish me luck and say goodbye
For its the last one I’ll hear
Love Hate
“Love Hate” has incredible words that relate to a fear of ever loving again. He says it is better never to love than to feel the pain from a lost love. Is this how you feel? Have you been hurt and don’t ever want to feel that pain again?
© By David Charlton March 2015
Love Hate
Of all the emotions a person can feel,
Love is scariest and hardest to heal.
Excitement and mystery impossible to resist.
Promises of magic perpetually persist.
We long for a connection that is as strong as it is true,
But love always does as love wants to do,
So to the emotion of love, I just want to say,
I’m much better off without you; I’m glad you went away,
‘Cause I’d much rather live with a heart that can sing,
A smile that struggles to be more than a grin.
I might not be happy, but at least I’m not sad,
Holding onto happiness that I never had,
Love’s an impostor, a thief in the night,
Reduces flames to embers that no longer burn bright.
Love captains your emotions and steers your fate.
Love is the only emotion that I truly hate.
I Cry
Is your pain of losing someone you love so deep that all you do is cry? Do you feel all alone? No one wants to hear about your heartache because no one has time for you. But if you could just have one friend to listen to your devastation, you could move forward in life.
By Tupac Shakur
Sometimes when I’m alone
I Cry,
Cause I am on my own.
The tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They flow with life but take no form
I Cry because my heart is torn.
I find it difficult to carry on.
If I had an ear to confiding,
I would cry among my treasured friend,
but who do you know that stops that long,
to help another carry on.
The world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then to stop and see what makes one cry,
so painful and sad.
And sometimes…
I Cry
and no one cares about why.
Lies
Have you been in a relationship that you thought was your life mate? It was forever for you, but the other person didn’t feel the same. Maybe they told you they love you, but you feel like they lied to you in the end. They left you all alone.
By Caleb Jackson
Lies
Walking down the path of love, I’ve experienced many feelings.
Feelings like a heart beat skipping when I saw a simple twinkle in your eyes.
Every time I was with you, I could hear bells ring.
It was great, I enjoyed every moment with you. You said you did too, but it was a lie.
I put in the effort to be the best man for you, I wanted to see you smile.
I gave my heart to you, in hopes you would keep that in mind.
You said you loved me too, those words kept me happy for a while.
You said that you cared about me, that you would love me no matter what, but you lied.
You told me that every time you said “I love you” you meant it more.
You said that if I died, you would weep and cry.
You said to me that you loved me, but you threw me out the door.
Did you really mean everything you told me? All you did was lie.
Now, you don’t even want to think of me anymore.
You said many things to me, but they were lies.
I was walking down a road of thorns, for a flower that would never bloom.
I was really always loving alone, wasn’t I?
Choice
Your love has left you or passed away. They were the love of your life, and you don’t ever want to know the love of another. What you had was so good that you know you can never find another to take their place.
By Angela Morgan
Choice
I’d rather have the thought of you
To hold against my heart,
My spirit to be taught of you
With west winds blowing,
Than all the warm caresses
Of another love’s bestowing,
Or all the glories of the world
In which you had no part.
I’d rather have the theme of you
To thread my nights and days,
I’d rather have the dream of you
With faint stars glowing,
I’d rather have the want of you,
The rich, elusive taunt of you
Forever and forever and forever unconfessed
Than claim the alien comfort
Of any other’s breast.
O lover! O my lover,
That this should come to me!
I’d rather have the hope of you,
Ah, Love, I’d rather grope for you
Within the great abyss
Than claim another’s kiss-
Alone I’d rather go my way
Throughout eternity.
Ebb
“Ebb” describes the stagnant, stillness of a heart when love has left. It is a short poem but says in so few words how deep the pain runs.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay
Ebb
I know what my heart is like
Since your love died:
It is like a hollow ledge
Holding a little pool
Left there by the tide,
A little tepid pool,
Drying inward from the edge.
A Shattered Heart
Have you loved and lost that love in a bitter end? Your heart is in pieces, but you have mended the best you know-how. Now you don’t know if you can ever find another who will be kind and gentle to your heart. You have hope, but the fear lingers.
© By Christi Ybarra February 2008
A Shattered Heart
Some say a broken heart is like a shattered vase
Fragile pieces scattered all over the place.
The shattered pieces of broken glass seem to go everywhere
Unlike the pieces of a broken heart that seem to pierce your soul.
With faith and hope you try to mend the broken heart
Unlike the vase it cannot be so easily replaced.
It takes a while to mend it and then you lock it up
You hide the key and wait to see if someone can be found
A special person who will use the key to unlock the heart
A unique person who will handle the heart with gentle hands,
Who can be honest, truthful and handle it with care.
My heart and I wonder is there really that kind of person out there.
Telling Myself
Is your love lost on another who has left you? Your mind is confused. You want to cry, yet you don’t want to. You don’t know what went wrong, and you try to convince yourself you will heal. So many thoughts are swirling in your mind. This is the poem for you. Knowing that your feelings and thoughts are put down so well in this poem will help lessen the feeling of loneliness.
© By SummerBreeze June 2008
as I lay here staring out the window
our memories flowing through my mind
holding back as a tear hits the pillow
scared of thoughts I might find.
telling myself I’ll be stronger tomorrow
if you would just come back until then
but instead it’s constant sorrow
now I have nothing for he was my sin.
as time should heal all things
it feels as if it’s going so slow
crying, careless what life brings
but I do not dare to let it show.
for he was my love
now that is gone
telling myself I’ll be happier another day
until then
wondering what went wrong
thinking why didn’t he stay.
I rather just cry now and not hurt later
and ask myself why this happened to me
telling myself it’ll soon get better
I really hope
I believe.
Lost Love
When you were young, did you fall in love? But you didn’t know enough about love to realize that it was the love of your life. You let it go, but still today, you miss what you had. This is the real meaning of lost love for you long for what you had all the days of your life.
© By Robert B. Wolfe August 2016
Lost Love
As I sit and ponder the day away.
I remember the young love I gave away.
I searched for a love like I left behind,
Too young to realize she was one of a kind.
Like a ship in the night,
She sailed away.
The hurt I felt
I still feel today.
For years I walked along a lonely shore,
Dreaming of the eyes I’ll see no more.
The love I felt, I still feel today
For the love of my life that I gave away.
If you have poems of lost love that you feel will help others heal from lost love and a painful experience, please contact me with the poem. I may feel the same as you and add it to my list of 10 poems.
This article’s poems are borrowed from 3 sites familyfriends Poems, Lover of Sadness, and Poetry Foundation. I want to say a special thank you, and please visit any one of these sites for an incredible array of poetry.