Grief Poems
strawberry
by Soulayma A.
i wanted to write about you
lovely cherry
you didn't ask to be born too
but you are glad you do
i wanted to write about you
cuz you are not like anyone i knew
you didn't say anything you want to be
you just ARE everything you want to be
......
Duino Elegies: The First Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels'
hierarchies? and even if one of them suddenly
pressed me against his heart, I would perish
in the embrace of his stronger existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror
which we are barely able to endure and are awed
because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Each single angel is terrifying.
And so I force myself, swallow and hold back
the surging call of my dark sobbing.
......
For Grief
by John O'Donohue
When you lose someone you love,
Your life becomes strange,
The ground beneath you becomes fragile,
Your thoughts make your eyes unsure;
And some dead echo drags your voice down
Where words have no confidence
Your heart has grown heavy with loss;
And though this loss has wounded others too,
No one knows what has been taken from you
When the silence of absence deepens.
......
Xx
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
And wilt thou have me fashion into speech
The love I bear thee, finding words enough,
And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough,
Between our faces, to cast light on each ?--
I drop it at thy feet. I cannot teach
My hand to hold my spirit so far off
From myself--me--that I should bring thee proof
In words, of love hid in me out of reach.
Nay, let the silence of my womanhood
Commend my woman-love to thy belief,--
......
Unto Us...
by Spike Milligan
Somewhere at some time
They committed themselves to me
And so, I was!
Small, but I WAS!
Tiny, in shape
Lusting to live
I hung in my pulsing cave.
Soon they knew of me
My mother --my father.
I had no say in my being
......
strawberry
by Soulayma A.
i wanted to write about you
lovely cherry
you didn't ask to be born too
but you are glad you do
i wanted to write about you
cuz you are not like anyone i knew
you didn't say anything you want to be
you just ARE everything you want to be
......
You're My Deep Breath
by Frangipani Rhett
Today my child slammed the door too hard
And I took a deep breath and thought of you
You set the standard for how to show love
And so I shifted towards compassion
Last Sunday I met up with a friend for coffee
And she talked for so long, I got bored
I took a deep breath and thought of you
And remembered the presence you gave me
......
Grandpa S.
by Frangipani Rhett
They brought home a little gift for me
Something they found in your drawer
A little wallet with your license and a photo of me
From way back in 2015
Dad and mom stayed in the room you slept in
But I know you never really felt at home
I wished you lived right by us too
But I know it would have been hard for us both
......
Spotify Stalking
by Frangipani Rhett
I cried so hard last night
That I played a song on repeat
It was one I pulled from a Spotify playlist
That I want to assume is yours
It sounds like a lullaby
And I imagined you singing it to me
Telling me it'll be alright
And running your fingers down my face
......
Grief
by Ken Ripley
I cry and cry and don’t know why.
My body clenches into knots
As violent grief explodes in pain
Until it subsides into a sigh.
Regrets and barely hidden guilt
Flood away more fonder themes,
Leaving residues of memories
That lay behind like mud and silt.
......
