Want an Easier Way to Plan a Memorial Event? Get our FREE guide

“7 Ways to Create an Amazing Celebration of Life”

Get the Ebook

SevenPonds / Poetry Looking at Loss / Loss of Family Members & Friends Poems / Page 3

Loss of Family Members & Friends Poems

Losing those closest to us creates unique patterns of grief. These poems understand those special bonds and help you process the complex emotions that come with losing family and friends.

“Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker"

By Ocean Vuong

So begins Ocean Vuong’s poem, “Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker.” In it, he catalogs the items his mother bo…

Read our magazine review

“Abuelo”

By Gabriel Ramirez

In “Abuelo,” Afro-Caribbean poet, Gabriel Ramirez, mourns the complicated loss of his grandfather, who would not have em…

Read our magazine review

"Why I Never Talk about My Mother"

By Joe Cilluffo

Joe Cilluffo’s poem “Why I Never Talk About My Mother” exists in the space of time between his father believing Cilluffo…

Read our magazine review

"Sudden"

By Nick Flynn

With the first word of this poem, “If,” poet Nick Flynn situates us in a reflective space, already wondering how the dea…

Read our magazine review

"Relentless"

By Ada Limón

Ada Limón sets the stage of “Relentless” by contrasting two different people in two different locations: There is the au…

Read our magazine review

"First Morning"

By Joy Harjo

In “First Morning,” Poet Laureate Joy Harjo describes what it is like for people to wake up the next morning after losin…

Read our magazine review

“Halley’s Comet”

By Stanley Kunitz

In “Halley’s Comet,” Stanley Kunitz – who was 95 when he became the 10th Poet Laureate of the United States in 2000 – re…

Read our magazine review

“If I Carry My Father”

By Marjorie Saiser

In “If I Carry My Father,” Nebraskan poet Marjorie Saiser contemplates the parts of her father she hopes will live on in…

Read our magazine review

"Diana and the Gorgon"

By Anis Mojgani

Anis Mojgani is a visual artist, writer and spoken-word performer who was named Oregon’s 10th poet laureate in 2020. Bor…

Read our magazine review

"Perhaps the World Ends Here"

By Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo, three-time Poet Laureate of the United States, is part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and lives in Tulsa, Okl…

Read our magazine review

"Certified"

By Rachel Eliza Griffiths

In her book “Seeing the Body,” Rachel Eliza Griffiths navigates her grief over the death of her mother through a series …

Read our magazine review

"My God, It's Full of Stars"

By

Tracy K. Smith, who served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019, wrote a brilliant poem called “My Go…

Read our magazine review

"Charity"

By Kevin Young

Poet Kevin Young’s collection “Book of Hours” features poems about the death of his late father interspersed with poems …

Read our magazine review

"On the Death of Anne Bronte"

By Charlotte Bronte

In England in the 1840s, one of the most revered literary families was the Bronte sisters, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bront…

Read our magazine review

"I'm Here"

By James P. Graham

“I’m Here” is a poem by James P. Graham. The author was just 17 when his mother died, and his little sister was 3. He wr…

Read our magazine review

"My Dad's Hands"

By David Ketter

On June 18 of this year, the third Sunday of the month, the United States celebrated Father’s Day. Father’s Day was firs…

Read our magazine review

"Memorial to D.C."

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

There is an old joke among writers that nobody likes to write but everybody likes to have written. Nothing could have be…

Read our magazine review

"Daddy"

By Sylvia Plath

Anger is a natural part of the grieving process. In her poem “Daddy,” American poet Sylvia Plath expresses rage at her f…

Read our magazine review

“Death Sets a Thing Significant"

By Emily Dickinson

Even if you’re not a huge fan of poetry, you’ve most likely heard of mid-19th century poet Emily Dickinson. Born in 1830…

Read our magazine review

“A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal”

By William Wordsworth

How many lines does a poet need to write in order to record a loved one’s death? Of course, the story of a person’s deat…

Read our magazine review

“After great pain, a formal feeling comes”

By Emily Dickinson

My post last week was about letting go of sorrows in order to be happy, and to fully appreciate the good experiences in …

Read our magazine review

“Sonnet”

By Elizabeth Bishop

Is the end of life best imagined as a climactic release? Although not explicitly about death, Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “S…

Read our magazine review

“The Barter”

By Carol Oates

In a recent post, I wrote about the influence of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief; and while reading through…

Read our magazine review

“Father”

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

As we approach Father’s Day this Sunday, it becomes particularly important to make time for our fathers by sending them …

Read our magazine review

“Cloud-Eye"

By Katherine Gallagher

I chose this week’s poem because I loved its mixture of imagery and metaphor. Its title alone, “Cloud-Eye,” foreshadows …

Read our magazine review

“Epitaph on William Muir”

By Robert Burns

Written for a good friend of his, “Epitaph on William Muir,” byRobert Burns, is everything an epitaph should be: it conv…

Read our magazine review

“Perfection Wasted”

By John Updike

Sometimes, there are obvious truths in life that, when pointed out, take on a whole new meaning. At least, that’s how I …

Read our magazine review

“Mother to Son”

By Langston Hughes

This week, I’m taking a look at “Mother to Son,” by Langston Hughes. I love the poem’s message, which is about not givin…

Read our magazine review

Find More in our Healing Library

Books

Music

Sayings

Humor

Films

Poetry