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SevenPonds / Poetry Looking at Loss / Poems About Reflecting on Life

Poems About Reflecting on Life

Loss often makes us examine our own lives more deeply. These contemplative poems inspire reflection on what truly matters, helping you find meaning in both grief and everyday moments.

"Deepening The Wonder"

By Hafiz

In the realm of poetry, few voices resonate as profoundly as that of Hafiz, the 14th-century Persian mystic and poet. Ha…

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"The World Is a Beautiful Place"

By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem “The World is a Beautiful Place” is a whimsical, thought-provoking piece that examines the …

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"An Untitled Japanese Death Poem"

By Kozan Ichikyo

This untitled poem by Kozan Ichikyo, written in 1360, represents a genre known as “jisei” or Japanese death poems, once …

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"Greensickness"

By Laurel Chen

Laurel Chen’s poem, “Greensickness,” is inspired by Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brook’s piece, “To the Young Who Want to Die…

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“Thanks”

By W.S. Merwin

Poet W.S. Merwin had much to be thankful for. He began writing hymns at the age of 5, after which he developed a love of…

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"Notes on the Existence of Ghosts"

By Franny Choi

In “Notes on the Existence of Ghosts,” poet Franny Choi considers how the absence of something can occupy space as fully…

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”Requiem with Coal, Butterflies and Terrible Angels”

By Traci Brimhall

The idea of death often conjures unique images for different people. While death is inevitable, we all envision it a lit…

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“the oboe in Handel’s largo from Xerxes as elegy,"

By Quan Barry

Born in Saigon and raised on the north shore of Boston, poet and novelist Quan Barry is the author of four poetry books …

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“Poem (If I knew exactly why the chestnut tree)”

By Frank O’Hara

Frank O’Hara was a mid-20th century New York poet who did not follow traditional poetic form. Instead, his poetry was co…

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"Ama Tu Ritmo/Love Your Rhythm"

By Rubén Darío

Rubén Darío (aka Félix Rubén García Sarmiento) was a Nicaraguan poet, journalist and diplomat during the late 1800s and …

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"Courage"

By Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton was a prolific, multiple-award-winning poet, who first began writing as a form of therapeutic release as she…

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"The Mower"

By Phillip Larkin

Philip Larkin (1922-1985) was one of England’s most highly respected post-war poets. Born in Coventry, he earned a BA in…

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"In Blackwater Woods"

By Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver is a contemporary American poet widely recognized for her descriptive poetry that draws on metaphors from th…

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"Try to Praise the Mutilated World"

By Adam Zagajewski

“Try to Praise the Mutilated World” (2002) by Polish poet Adam Zagajewski resonates with his characteristic themes of ni…

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“Warning”

By Jenny Joseph

The poem I have chosen to look at today is “Warning” by British poet Jenny Joseph. Some people also refer to the poem by…

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“Sunday Morning”

By Wallace Stevens

In a recent interview with SevenPonds, Terri Daniel encourages us to imagine death as catalyst for new growth, new persp…

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“Sorrow’s Uses”

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Last December, I wrote about the necessity of grief when discussing “Sorrow’s Uses,” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Today, I’m …

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“What the Living Do”

By Marie Howe

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that human beings have a tendency to take things for granted. Even the little, simple j…

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"We Have Not Long to Love”

By Tennessee Williams

This week, I’m looking at the writing of Tennessee Williams, but not a play; A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Mena…

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“Nothing Twice”

By Wislawa Szymborska

My sister is among the many, many young people currently obsessed with the phrase, “YOLO”: that’s “you only live once,” …

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“Alone"

By Sara Teasdale

As I was reading Sara Teasdale’s “Alone,” I was struck by how much it reminded me of a line from Harry Potter and the De…

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“Requiem”

By Robert Louis Stevenson

I’ve been thinking a lot about boldness lately, about saying what you want to say when you want to say it. This concept …

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“A Song of Living”

By Amelia Burr

Much of the literature written on death finds a way of expressing it, and its meaning to the author, through symbolism a…

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“Song of Myself"

By Walt Whitman

I fell in love with the poems of Walt Whitman in high school, and to this day I still have my worn-out copy of his poetr…

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“In Salutation to the Eternal Peace”

By Sarojini Naidu

In devoting a week to India here at SevenPonds, we thought we’d take a look at Indian literature for this week’s “The Ne…

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“From a Train Window”

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

When I was fourteen, my family went on a vacation to Ireland. We drove through the much-too-small roads in a much-too-bi…

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