Poems about grief

[GL friend]

Hello, I thought I would add one of my favourite poems.

The Window by Rumi

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.

For me this poem is about continuing to feel connected to my mum who passed away in 2014 at just 48 years of age. Even though she is gone, she knows how Im going and all that goes on in my life because of the window thats open between our hearts. She is well and safe now. I know this in my heart.

Topic

[onlinecommunity]

Hi @gl-friend, thank you so much for posting the first piece on our Helping Hand Topic. This is such a beautiful poem that so perfectly describes continuing the bond with our loved ones who have passed away. How comforting for you to know in your heart that your Mum is still with you and that she is content.

We welcome all community members to post something meaningful that has helped or informed you through your grief process.

[onlinecommunity]

In this poem by Marjorie Pizer she describes her grief process as a rebirth, giving hope to those who sometimes feel like they’re drowning in an ocean of grief.

I am emerging from an ocean of grief,
From the sorrow of many deaths,
From the inevitability of tragedy,
From the losing of love,
From the terrible triumph of destruction.
I am seeing the living that is to be lived,
The laughter that is to be laughed,
The joy that is to be enjoyed,
The loving that is to be accomplished.
I am yearning at last
The tremendous triumph of life (Pizer, 1992, p. 44)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by onlinecommunity.

[VM-Michael]

Here’s an absolutely beautiful poem by John Roedel, about alienation, grief and tuning into what’s happening in the body as a pathway to healing (includes great therapeutic first aid advice!)

my brain and
heart divorced

a decade ago

over who was
to blame about
how big of a mess
I have become

eventually,
they couldn’t be
in the same room
with each other

now my head and heart
share custody of me

I stay with my brain
during the week

and my heart
gets me on weekends

they never speak to one another

– instead, they give me
the same note to pass
to each other every week

and their notes they
send to one another always
says the same thing:

“This is all your fault”

on Sundays
my heart complains
about how my
head has let me down
in the past

and on Wednesday
my head lists all
of the times my
heart has screwed
things up for me
in the future

they blame each
other for the
state of my life

there’s been a lot
of yelling – and crying

so,

lately, I’ve been
spending a lot of
time with my gut

who serves as my
unofficial therapist

most nights, I sneak out of the
window in my ribcage

and slide down my spine
and collapse on my
gut’s plush leather chair
that’s always open for me

~ and I just sit sit sit sit
until the sun comes up

last evening,
my gut asked me
if I was having a hard
time being caught
between my heart
and my head

I nodded

I said I didn’t know
if I could live with
either of them anymore

“my heart is always sad about
something that happened yesterday
while my head is always worried
about something that may happen tomorrow,”
I lamented

my gut squeezed my hand

“I just can’t live with
my mistakes of the past
or my anxiety about the future,”
I sighed

my gut smiled and said:

“in that case,
you should
go stay with your
lungs for a while,”

I was confused
– the look on my face gave it away

“if you are exhausted about
your heart’s obsession with
the fixed past and your mind’s focus
on the uncertain future

your lungs are the perfect place for you

there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either

there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment

there is only breath

and in that breath
you can rest while your
heart and head work
their relationship out.”

this morning,
while my brain
was busy reading
tea leaves

and while my
heart was staring
at old photographs

I packed a little
bag and walked
to the door of
my lungs

before I could even knock
she opened the door
with a smile and as
a gust of air embraced me
she said

“what took you so long?”

• This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by onlinecommunity.

[onlinecommunity]

Hi @Michael, welcome to the forums. And thank you so much for posting this poem – it is so poignant and beautifully written.

It’s great to see our Community Members adding to our Helping Hand topic.

Perhaps some of our community members have resources to help those who are struggling with upcoming father’s day?

🌸

[VM – OnAJourney]

Hi

Thank you for sharing those beautiful poems. One of my favourite poems on grief is by John O’Donohue from his book “To Bless the Space Between Us – A Book of Blessings”. I can relate very well to this overwhelm of different feelings and the often seemingly endless reappearance of grief in moments when I least expect it. May we have patience as our guide through this unsettling experience of grief.

For Grief

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.

Flickers of guilt kindle regret
For all that was left unsaid or undone.

There are days when you wake up happy;
Again inside the fullness of life,
Until the moment breaks
And you are thrown back
Onto the black tide of loss.
Days when you have your heart back,
You are able to function well
Until in the middle of work or encounter,
Suddenly with no warning,
You are ambushed by grief.

It becomes hard to trust yourself.
All you can depend on now is that
Sorrow will remain faithful to itself.
More than you, it knows its way
And will find the right time
To pull and pull the rope of grief
Until that coiled hill of tears
Has reduced to its last drop.

Gradually, you will learn acquaintance
With the invisible form of your departed;
And when the work of grief is done,
The wound of loss will heal
And you will have learned
To wean your eyes
From that gap in the air
And be able to enter the hearth
In your soul where your loved one
Has awaited your return
All the time.

[harv]

Amazing poem, thank you for sharing.

[jamesrob]

Thanks for the information!

[VM-Zelaris_20]

Hi, Thanks for sharing these amazing poems. One poem that resonated with me is the following…

Separation by W.S. Merwin

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.

I interpreted this as my experience of loss is the colour that’s stitched in my life and my future. This experience is a part of me and accepting that has allowed me to grow but I know its always there and that’s okay.

[VM-Serenity66]

@VM-Zelaris_20, that is a lovely poem. It speaks to me about the healing aspect of grieving, the stitching back together and accommodating what has changed form. It reminds me of Kintsugi (golden joinery), the Japanese method of repairing broken pottery with conspicuous gold seams. The repairs become what you celebrate, rather than what you try to hide. May you all find comfort.

[abner]

Hello all, I love the poems, I relate to them all, especially the Rumi and the John Roedel ones. I’d like to write poetry and music about my own experience of grief and loss, as well as gains I’ve made in adversity, and I’ve made some of those too i.e. I’ve learnt to stand up for myself, and to own my emotions and my rights to them.

[Author]

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