Death is one thing we all face at one time or another in our lives. Grief is a subject we have all heard of, but some have not yet experienced the pain. Death and grief are situations that you will only feel the real impact of when they have faced a loss. Here I have put together 11 poems about death, grief, loss, and pain of the heart.
Death can come to your life at any age and at any time. But how do you deal with the pain, grief, and loss of someone you love. ? One way is to know that you are not alone. When these words were put to paper and these poems were written down the author felt your pain. A poet can put into words the grief you feel but can not speak.
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Take any of these poems to heart and allow it to heal the pain, loss, and grief in your soul. Allow it to give you peace, knowing that someone else somewhere in our vast universe also felt the same loss and grief you are feeling today. Use their words to heal your pain.
Sometimes
The loss of a child at any age is the most devastating pain of all. The grief and pain are overwhelming. A child lives in our hearts and carries a piece of it where ever they may go, even in death. We can see them in everything we do and feel the acute pain when we look at another child. It is a pain that goes on forever and ever and a loss and pain we never forget. If you have lost a child, this poem may comfort you in your times o grief, knowing that Colleen put to words your pain.
© By Colleen Ranney January 2012
Sometimes
Sometimes I catch a glimpse,
In softened waves of blue,
My child, my heart …when I see a smile,
I can’t help but think of you.
Sometimes these waves fill oceans.
And feelings string on every shore,
A collections of each memory
And every way I wish for more.
Sometimes I watch for answers
Because each day I call to you.
I ask for faith and courage
And strength…to help me through.
Sometimes I ask for bravery
Like dolphins in the deep,
Because time moves oh so slowly,
And sometimes the road is steep.
Sometimes I want to scream.
This was not what I had planned.
Why you ever suffered,
A mom can’t understand.
Sometimes I hear your laughter
And remember you at play,
But My Child I always miss you.
Not sometimes, but every day.
In Blackwater Woods
The loss of a loved one makes it hard to see that other life still exists around you. Grief can blacken the world around you. But your loved one lives on in nature. This poem talks of nature, life, pain, and the grief you feel. One cannot change the fact of death, although often we wish we could. But in grief, we will come to accept it all in time.
By Mary Oliver
In Blackwater Woods
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
A Call From Heaven
After a loved one’s death, we often wish to see them or speak to them again. In our pain, we may think we hear them and want to share our day with them or make new memories. This is especially true with the death of someone who was with you for a long time. The loss of a long term spouse lives in our hearts forever.
Zeb says he would give everything to be with his love again, and maybe he will dream of them. If you have lost a person who has been in your life forever and ever, this poem will help give you peace and work through the grief.
© By Zeb Edington November 2018
A Call From Heaven
I lie awake long into the night,
Hoping that maybe you just might
Give me a call to say you’re okay
And let me know you made it through the day.
I would give everything that I have
To make you feel not so sad.
I know the pain is sometimes too great,
But the love was something you can never mistake.
I long for the day when I see you again.
Then we can talk about where all we’ve been.
We can think about all the times we had,
How we’ve missed each other ever so bad.
I feel like I’ve been cheated and robbed so blind.
God took you away when I thought you were mine.
Now I’m stuck here and feel so alone
As I sit and wait right beside the phone.
You gave me a life and everything I have.
I couldn’t say no, even when I was mad.
You gave me my children that I hold so dear.
You took away everything that I ever feared.
As the hurt seems to fade but the memories are bright,
Maybe I’ll see you in a dream tonight.
That’s all I can hope for until the day
When were together in heaven for an eternity.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Awww, Robert Frost’s poems are forever and he speaks of loos so well. Robert says in this short poem that nothing stays forever even in death. Has been some time since the loss of your loved one and are working through the grief and pain? This poem will help you accept your loss and move forward.
By Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
The Window
Rumi says in elegant words that there is always communication open after death. In your grief and pain, know your loved one is near. Poems like Rumi’s will comfort you in your time of pain and loss, knowing you can feel your loved one at all times.
By Rumi
The Window
Your body is away from me
but there is a window open
from my heart to yours.
From this window, like the moon
I keep sending news secretly
The Letter
You’re loved on lives even after death in the works they did on earth. He lives on in words they wrote and the memories they left behind. It is a comfort when the pain is so deep, and the grief is so strong to know you can touch the one you love with the words and memories they left behind.
By Thomas Bailey Aldrich
The Letter
I held his letter in my hand,
And even while I read
The lightning flashed across the land
The word that he was dead.
How strange it seemed! His living voice
Was speaking from the page
Those courteous phrases, tersely choice,
Light-hearted, witty, sage.
I wondered what it was that died!
The man himself was here,
His modesty, his scholar’s pride,
His soul serene and clear.
These neither death nor time shall dim,
Still, this sad thing must be —
Henceforth I may not speak to him,
Though he can speak to me!
What Will I do With The Pain?
Often, when a loved one leaves us to death, we feel so much pain that we don’t know how to move on in our grief. Their loss feels like desertion. You are not the only person who has gone through this pain and does not know how to deal with it. Look to this poem to connect with the words of another for comfort during your loss and grief.
By Laura Fuller
What Will I Do With The Pain?
What will I do with the pain?
consumes me
grips like a vice
my heart skips beats
my body is numb
I love him to the end
and beyond
What will I do with the pain?
I cared for him
but he left me
how can he do this?
he deserted me
he left me
all alone
I’m lost!
sad!
mad!
hurt!
What will I do with the pain?
My Mask
Do you feel like you will never get over the pain and grief? Do you put on a face for everyone because your loss is still fresh in your mind, and they won’t approve? You may not have worked through the grief, but it is good to know that others have worn a mask. They wear a mask in public to hide the grief and carry the pain in private.
© By Ellie Nazza June 2011
My Mask
Every morning I wake up and put on a mask.
The mask makes everything seem all right,
But they don’t know I cry at night.
The nightmares just won’t go away.
If only I knew it was your last day.
For six years I’ve felt this pain.
The feeling just won’t go away.
Everyone thinks I’ve dealt with your death the best,
But without this mask I’d be a mess.
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
In your time of loss, grief, and pain, you can find comfort in these words. Believe that your loved one is still alive in nature all around you. They live in the wind and snow and the fields. These words are the ultimate in poems about death, grief, and loss because you do not feel alone.
By Mary Elizabeth Frye
Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
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 glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die.
I’m So Alone After Mom Died
I had tears in my eyes when I read this poem. When I lost my mom, grief and pain were tremendous. It felt as if my loss encompassed the sun and moon. I still, to this day, many years later, want to talk to her and feel the pain. I felt the way Theola describes in her words. And during that pain, loss, and grief, it would have been peaceful to know I was not alone with poems like this one. You can find peace in these words also.
© By Theola December 2007
I’m So Alone After Mom Died
I’m so alone, it’s so dark…..
When is the sun going to shine again?
The sky is dark, my world is grey….
When are the flowers going to bloom and make this hurt go away?
My mommy is gone, I feel her presence…
The thought of not seeing her again takes my breath away
The hurt, the pain, I cannot describe….
It’s like my blood quit flowing inside
I wake up each morning to begin a new day….
In hopes that this hollow feeling will go away
My thoughts of my Mommy bring happiness and peace….
Then the truth overcomes and I feel so incomplete
I know she loves me and she is free of pain
But I would love to see her again
I’m so alone, it’s so dark…….
When is the sun going to shine again?
I’m so alone, it’s so dark…..
When is the sun going to shine again?
The sky is dark, my world is grey….
When are the flowers going to bloom and make this hurt go away?
My mommy is gone, I feel her presence…
The thought of not seeing her again takes my breath away
The hurt, the pain, I cannot describe….
It’s like my blood quit flowing inside
I wake up each morning to begin a new day….
In hopes that this hollow feeling will go away
My thoughts of my Mommy bring happiness and peace….
Then the truth overcomes and I feel so incomplete
I know she loves me and she is free of pain
But I would love to see her again
I’m so alone, it’s so dark…….
When is the sun going to shine again?
Just Keep Going
Grief comes in many forms. Grief and the feeling of loss can happen before your loved one passes. Dementia and Alzheimers can steal the life of the one we love before death. The pain may be a bit different, but grief and loss are the same. When you read this poem, know that you are not alone, and the grief is real.
By Laura Fuller
Just Keep Going
FEAR
oh fear
of the past
fear of the future
fear gone and to come
the worst of all
is fear of now
oh what shall I do?
who shall I tell?
no one to help
change the future
so, I pray
have faith
remember my love
stand in strength
and just
keep
going
on
and
on
I am so sorry for your loss and hope that Any one of these poems may speak the pain and emotions you feel.
