Loss Poems | Poemist

Popular Loss Poems

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream- -and not make dreams your master;

......

To An Orphan Child

by Thomas Hardy

A Whimsey

AH, child, thou art but half thy darling mother's;
Hers couldst thou wholly be,
My light in thee would outglow all in others;
She would relive to me.
But niggard Nature's trick of birth
Bars, lest she overjoy,
Renewal of the loved on earth
Save with alloy.

......

On The Death Of Dr. Benjamin Franklin

by Philip Freneau

Thus, some tall tree that long hath stood
The glory of its native wood,
By storms destroyed, or length of years,
Demands the tribute of our tears.

The pile, that took long time to raise,
To dust returns by slow decays:
But, when its destined years are o'er,
We must regret the loss the more.

......

Home Burial

by Robert Frost

He saw her from the bottom of the stairs
Before she saw him. She was starting down,
Looking back over her shoulder at some fear.
She took a doubtful step and then undid it
To raise herself and look again. He spoke
Advancing toward her: "What is it you see
From up there always? -- for I want to know."
She turned and sank upon her skirts at that,
And her face changed from terrified to dull.
He said to gain time: "What is it you see?"

......

Disciples

by Steve Turner

They threw down their nets
and they followed Him.
There was no time to
calculate profit or loss.
There was no time to
call home for a second opinion.
It seemed like absolute madness.
It seemed like death.
But it was a wise madness,
a necessary death.

......

Recent Loss Poems

The Crosses That We Bear

by Nathaniel Phillips

Lingering on, in the presence of longing
When the ache screams in the silence whether of days or years
It’s an unheard cry that reverberates in heart and mind
Haunted by our joys that turn to tears

Whether of loss or the grief of the estranged
A garden of tombstones commemorated
Former things and faith for homecomings
The life we knew whether dead or still alive
Whether prodigal or heavenly celebrated

......

Another Doctor, Another Revolving Door

by Darris van-Hoxen

What’s the point
if I told you a you
was elsewhere—
not quite you,
not quite I,
just remnants
of someone else.

And with another brain—
not my own—

......

ये दिल ही ना बदला (Ye Dil Hi Na Badla)

by Christine Kuruvilla

Hakikat yahi thi ki ye dil hi na badla,
Kabhi kise ko bhi pyaar de diya,
Dukh dard ko apna liya,
Chup chaap sab ke liye hass liya.

De diya hai ab sab kuch,
Na jaane us paar kiski intezaar.
Par maut se darta nahi ye dil,
Kyunki mar chuka hai hum kai baar,
Unpe hua hai ye dil beqarar.

......

She died

by Dina Shehada

Everything about her is so special
You touch her hand and feel it's cold
As if it was a metal
Asking the lord
Please make her feel better
Those stunning eyes
Their gorgeous color
Look at them and feel her magic power
Let your hand run through her hair
You will know how it feels to touch the rainbow rain

......

my home

by Mackenzie Bilz

A river without fish.
A mountain missing its goats.
A desert without cacti.
A forest missing its frogs.

A street without bugs.
A garden with only one flower.
A house without people.
A park with only one swing.

......